


My Fault

by Setsuna24



Category: Finder no Hyouteki | Finder Series
Genre: Comfort/Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-01
Updated: 2014-09-10
Packaged: 2018-02-07 00:54:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1878876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Setsuna24/pseuds/Setsuna24
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A bad decision had caused the situation he was in; a bad decision had taken away the only person he truly cared about. Why did he not see what Akihito really meant to him before he screwed things so horribly between them?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. My Fault

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ashida](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashida/gifts), [Rekishichizu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rekishichizu/gifts).



> This is my "in between fics" fic so I will work this in between other things because I have about a million things I need to update (which I keep neglecting) so when I am stuck on whatever I happen to be working on at the moment I will work on this and post another part to the story.
> 
> Instead of posting a short chapter and then a longer one like I did on FF.net I decided to combine the first two chapters here.
> 
> I do not own Finder series.
> 
> Thanks to Ashida for betaing.

**_One Month after the confrontation – Akihito’s Apartment_ **

A bad decision had caused the situation he was in; a bad decision had taken away the only person he truly cared about. Why did he not see what Akihito really meant to him before he screwed things so horribly between them? It was a bad decision, but in the end it was a decision he made without caring for the consequences. That was until things fell apart between them and he realized what he had sacrificed because of his unwillingness to see the truth until it was too late.

“Go to hell!” The blonde shouted as he tried to shut the door to the small crummy apartment right on the man’s face.

“Akihito, please understand”

“What the fuck do you want me to understand?! What the hell do you want from me? I have forgiven and endured so much already, but THIS, this I am not going to suffer through, this I will not forgive. So leave me the fuck alone to live my fucking life in peace and you go back to leave yours however the fuck you want to. You made your bed, now lay in it and deal with the consequences of your actions.”

“You belong to me Akihito, your place is at my side.”

“Like hell it is! I would rather die than come back to you and there is nothing you can say to change my mind.” He shouted pushing the larger man who not expecting physical retaliation could not stop himself from stepping backwards.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s too late for ‘I’m sorry’ those words are no longer enough.” And before the surprised older man could step forward and prevent it from happening the door had already been closed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I separated chapter 1 and 2 so they match the chapters on FF.net AO3 had been posting my chapters without italics for thought proccess and flashbacks and I just realized it because they did show up on the preview and when I pasted the text but not on the fic itself which may have confused some people when I did flashbacks. I found a way to fix it. I will also edit the chapters later on to make the fics timeline more clear.

**_\- Flashback - The Confession_ **

**_Akihito’s POV_ **

_“I love you.” said Akihito, looking his lover straight into those haunting golden eyes._

_He had taken a chance and finally let the three words come out of his mouth, along with an intense look in his hazel eyes that seem to say ‘and I mean it.’ His arms circled his lover’s neck; their bodies were still connected in a passionate embrace as Asami drove himself into the smaller body._

_No response came to his love confession from his stoic lover, and his heart did not break because of it. He had expected not to get a reply and was willing to wait. Pulling his lover down for another deep kiss, his hands trembled at the adrenaline coursing through his body after working up the courage to lay bare his feelings._

_The tight coil of sensation low in his groin snapped and he cried in sweet overwhelming release followed minutes after by the golden eyed man._

**_Asami’s POV_ **

_He was surprised to say the least. Of all things he expected his young lover to say in the midst of their activities, a sincere revelation of love was not one of them. Hell, he never expected Akihito to say those words at all._

_Something in his chest clenched as he processed the meaning of those words, and he put the feeling aside for further exploration at a later moment. He continued to pound into the tight hot flesh and delighted in the pleasure filled sounds each of his movements brought out of that glistening mouth. He was pulled down for a kiss and momentarily set aside any worries caused by the sudden and unexpected words._

**_Three weeks later… The Confrontation_ **

_“What the fuck did you think?! Did you really think I would never find out? How long did you think you could keep something like this from me? I’m a reporter Asami, you should have known the moment you started acting different around me that I would investigate what was going on… and to think I was actually worried about you!”_

_Akihito let out a humorless laugh, dripping with ire and looked at him again as the delivered the thoughts flying around his mind._

_“What the hell were you thinking? You know, for a powerful and intelligent crime lord you can be truly stupid to fall for the oldest trick in the book. I doubted my place in your life for so long. I doubted your feelings, hell, I even denied my feelings for you. When I finally worked up the courage to tell you how I felt I knew you wouldn’t give me an answer, I knew, and I was okay with it because I knew I had to give you time to say things in your own way. And you know what the irony of it is? In a way you did, you have showed me what I really mean to you, and it is not enough for me to stay. Maybe this is also my fault, I made a mistake, do you want to know what that mistake was Asami? It was not moving in with you, or trusting you with my life, it wasn’t even loving you. My biggest mistake was trusting you with my heart, I should have known better than that. Goodbye Asami, I hope it was all worth it.”_

_He turned around to walk towards the penthouse’s door and before he had gone more than three steps, Asami’s strong hand held his arm._

_“Akihito, we can still fix this. Don’t leave.”_

_Akihito pulled his arm free of its prison and for the first time Asami found he did not have the strength to hold on. Without turning around Akihito said the words that proved things would never be the same._

_“I will send for my stuff tomorrow and they will leave my key with the concierge. Don’t come looking for me, because I don’t want to see you ever again.”_

_He watched the young man walk out of the penthouse, he wanted to chase after him, yet his body remained rooted to the same spot for close to five minutes before falling on his knees at the realization that he had very likely broken without repair the only good thing in his life. In his world of darkness and deceit he had only one light… and he had extinguished it with his own hands._

**_\- End of flashback -_ **

****VF****

**_One Month after the confrontation – Akihito’s Apartment_ **

As he walked away from the closed door to Akihito’s apartment. Asami could not help but wonder if perhaps things could have been fixed, if he had just said he was sorry that day before Akihito even left the penthouse. If he had just stopped the blonde from leaving and just apologized, maybe they could have worked things out.

Akihito was not one to hold grudges; he even forgave Feilong for the Hong Kong fiasco… but there was a difference between him and Feilong. While Feilong had hurt Akihito physically and had apologized to the young photographer, he had hurt the boy emotionally and it took him a month to swallow his damn pride, admit he was wrong and ask for forgiveness. By then it was already too late.

Akihito was right; he had made a rookie mistake and fallen for the most common of traps. All because he did not want to admit he had fallen in love and to prove it had gone off on a night of debauchery that had ruined his life.

It served him right, he supposed, that the only person he cared about was now the one who did not want to see him again. While some insignificant pest lounged around their home like it belonged there, demanding his time and attention because of the product of his carelessness.

He dreaded going home, he loathed the idea, because without Akihito that place did not feel like home anymore.

On the other side of the door; Akihito slid down the wooden surface, sitting on the floor, he brought his knees up surrounding them with his arms and buried his head in them as he tried to silence the sobs coming from him. It was a weak attempt to keep Asami from hearing his weakness. It hurt so much, like an ugly festering wound, throbbing and decayed in his chest, refusing to heal and close. He had been in love, he was in love still… and it hurt.

Asami had betrayed him, had lied to him, and now Asami had responsibilities he did not want to be a part of.

_‘Let him deal with the consequences of his actions… I will be ok… with time… the pain will go away and I will be ok. His burden however, it will be there for the rest of his life and every time he looks upon it he will remember this was his fault. He will remember what he did to me and that his life could have been better.’_


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami remembers the day everything was ruined as he drinks in his office. A woman's deception is revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is a short chapter to get the story going and fill in some of the gaps as well as answer some questions.
> 
> Thanks to all that read, faved, followed, reviewed, PMed etc.
> 
> Special thanks to Ashida for betaing.
> 
> AO3 had been posting my chapters without italics for thought proccess and flashbacks and I just realized it because they did show up on the preview and when I pasted the text but not on the fic itself which may have confused some people when I did flashbacks. I found a way to fix it. I will also edit the chapters later on to make the fics timeline more clear.
> 
> I do not own Finder Series.

**_\- Flashback - One Month before the Confrontation…_ **

_“Do what you please but one of you two has to make it happen you understand. Our company is on the line here and merging with his would be the best way to secure financial success for the rest of our lives. He is a powerful man, handsome and a bachelor so it’s not like you will have to make a great sacrifice. Get it done, by any means necessary, I will introduce you tomorrow.”_

_The man walked away leaving the two women to sort out a plan. Tomorrow, if they succeed, one of them will be the official heiress to the company._

_\----------_

_“Asami-san, about my daughters Miko and Kaoruko.” Said Honjio Yamato the CEO of Yamato Enterprises. “I was hoping you could get acquainted with each other since one of them will be taking over my business when I retire.”_

_“I certainly hope you are not planning on retiring soon Honjio-san” said Asami_

_“Oh certainly not Asami-san, business is too good right now to throw in the towel.” The man chuckled and Asami knew what business he was referring to. It was the kind of business he was into himself._

_“Indeed business is too good for you to quit now, especially in the middle of our contract. You wouldn’t do that to me now would you?” Asami lit a cigarette while piercing Honjio with his cold golden eyes._

_Honjio swallowed audibly and sweat began to form on his balding head._

_“Of course not Asami-san, I would never dare.”_

_“Good” he said “I’d rather not have to collect ‘compensation’ for the breach of contract.”  The way he said the word compensation had the other man trembling slightly._

_“Oh, there they are.” Said Honjio visibly relaxing at the approach of the two women._

_They were both dressed in traditional kimonos, their dark hair gathered tastefully on their heads. Asami had to admit they were both beautiful in their own right. Miko was the oldest and looked to be in her early thirties, while Kaoruko looked to be in the late twenties. At some point, Honjio had disappeared and the women had begun talking to him, but his mind had wandered off and he barely registered what they said. His body was on auto-pilot while his mind wandered about, supplying polite smiles, noises of approval or agreement and, short responses to the two._

_All day he had been looking for a distraction from those three words Akihito told him last night. He had hoped this gala provided a distraction, but these sorts of events were hardly ever amusing, much less distracting, that is unless a certain blond photographer was pretending to be a waiter._

_A certain photographer who spoke words that made something in his chest clench every time he thought about it. There he was again… thinking about such things… and there was that strange clenching in his chest coupled with that strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. ‘This is useless; this event is not helping me keep my mind occupied. Maybe I am actually sick and should see a doctor. Now, when was the last time I saw a doctor?’_

_One of them must have said something funny, because the other was laughing, pulling him out of his reverie. It was Kaoruko who laughed with her hand over her mouth. They had hazel eyes, he noticed. Someone else had hazel eyes, someone who had said three words that had him confused. That feeling in his chest, the one on the pit of his stomach, what were they? He tried to put a finger on it, but came up short. He had never felt that before, what was it? How do you categorize the tugging in his chest? Surely it wasn’t… it couldn’t be, right? The sole idea was preposterous; Asami Ryuichi was not one to fall so low. That kind of thing, it was a cage, a very dangerous cage that weakened you and could cost you your life. Surely it was not that, but how to prove it?_

_The two women flirted with him and he began to wonder where their father had run off to. How close were these two sisters really? What they were implying was definitely not something people who don’t trust each other completely suggest. Are they not aware of what they are offering?_

_A waiter passed by and he reached for another drink, hoping it would aid to keep his mind away from his predicament. ‘Although’ he thought ‘there are two distractions standing in front of me. It would also serve to get the doubts out of my head. After all, they are drooling over me so obviously, they are easy prey.’_

_Asami smirked his trademark smirk to the women and suggested they take the conversation somewhere else. The women smiled at him and followed him to his suite, it was so convenient, the gala took place at a hotel. In the privacy of the luxurious suite, it took no coercing on his part before they were rolling around on the bed. They were more than willing to see to his needs all night and even seemed insatiable. He looked at the clock at some point and thought ‘It’s too late to go home now.’ While Miko’s and Kaoruko’s mouth fought over his hardness._

**_\- End of flashback -_ **

****VF****

**_At Sion, after visiting Akihito’s apartment…_ **

He remembered that day as if it was yesterday, the memory of it will surely haunt him for the rest of his days. It was the day he made the biggest mistake of his life. The day he ruined everything.

****

Asami sat on the couch in his office, the clear bottle containing golden liquid was almost empty and so was the tumbler in his hand. The clock on the wall read four in the morning as he downed the rest of the tumbler’s contents. He didn’t want to go home, that place was not home anymore. Home, he thought about that word as he filled the tumbler once more, whatever home was, Akihito had taken it with him when he left.

In retrospective, he should have known it was a trap. He should have seen the signs, they were both too willing, too eager. They insisted on placing the condom themselves, one had distracted him while the other placed the piece of rubber on, and he had been too distracted to see them tamper with it. That is what they must have done, broken a whole into it somehow, there was no other explanation _. ‘The oldest trick in the book and I fell for it. The most powerful man in Japan is apparently no match for a cunning woman.’_

At least it had been only one of the two who delivered the dreadful news; he did not even want to contemplate having to deal with the two of them in the same condition. Still, that doesn’t redeem him from his actions and their father’s demand that he take responsibility.

“Fuck!” He said out loud.

“If it didn’t interfere with my business I would have killed them both before Akihito found out.”

He found himself saying this quite often these days. Truth was, he was not as heartless as to kill his own child.

****VF****

**_That same night…_ **

In a penthouse in Shinjuku a woman spoke to her father on the phone.

"Is he there?"

"No, I don't think he will be coming home today either. You must put more pressure on him father, or this will all be for nothing."

"Patience, patience my daughter. He will have to comply to my demands, after all you are going to be the mother of his child."

"Right, I will be the mother of his child. Did you take care of the loose ends?"

"I did, he is dead. Pity too, he was a great bodyguard, but we can't have him ruining our plan can we?"

"Fufufu, no we can't father. All loose ends need to be tied."

"I will see you tomorrow Miko, we need to talk about giving the news to the board."


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akihito finds out the truth, a man morns his friend's death and a devious woman puts her plans in motion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the longest, most time consuming chapter I have ever worked on and I am just glad its done. I hope the timeline is more clear now but just in case I will go gack and edit some stuff on the past chapters to give a better sense of when things are happening. Honestly I have worked on this for so long and edited it so many times I am officially just giving up and posting it like this. I apologize if there is something I missed.
> 
> Thanks to Ashida for betaing and to Rekishichizu for her help with editing, timeline adjustment and suggestions to the plot.

_**-Flashback- Three Weeks After The Confession…** _

_At first Akihito was curious about Asami's behavior these last few weeks. 'After I confessed to love him the man has been acting… strange? I guess that's the only way to describe it, different certainly doesn't cut it.'_

_Strange… Asami had been acting strange. The golden eyed yakuza had been avoiding Akihito as much as possible. He spoke in hushed voices with Kirishima in the penthouse and when Akihito appeared in the room the two would go silent. This in and of itself would not have made Akihito worried, Asami was a crime lord and he a criminal photojournalist, there were things Asami would want to keep secret from him regardless of their non-verbalized agreement to stay out of each other's business._

_No, it was the fact that Asami had not touched him in three weeks that worried him. That and the tired look on the man's face, he looked exhausted, worried even. Like a man fighting a losing battle between the sword and a hard place. He was worried about his golden-eyed lover and tried to do things to make him more comfortable when the man got home._

_Normally he would not do these things but his lover just looked so troubled, he had to do something to make him feel relieved to come home, to take some of the tension away. Akihito would stay up and wait for him. The young man would welcome him home in the middle of the night when normally this late into the night he would be asleep. He would take the jacket off him along with his briefcase and put them away. Every night Asami would arrive to a warm welcome, a warm bath would be waiting for him, and a still warm meal was on the table regardless of how late in the night it was. Akihito would serve him a drink, would serve him a plate and once even massaged his tired shoulders._

_He tried everything to take away that dark cloud over the dark-haired man but the more he tried the worse Asami seemed to feel. Once or twice he thought he saw the man look into the distance when he thought Akihito was not paying attention, in these occasions Akihito had thought he had seen a look of regret. He convinced himself that must not have been it – Asami Ryuichi did what he wanted and took what he pleased without regretting a single thing. It must certainly be something else._

_He was worried about Asami, what else can he possibly do to help the man? He certainly could not go asking about his business and it must be something related to his business to have him in such a mood. Maybe there was a turf war and he had not heard about it…? But his informants would have said something about it then and he would have been all over it with his camera, ready to get the scoop. 'It must be something related to his business, but how do I ask?'_

_The next day he caught a couple of words from one of the hushed conversations between Asami and Kirishima. The words were a name, Honjio Yamato, and he knew that name. It was the name of an important businessman, the CEO of a company, and Akihito wondered if the man was giving Asami some trouble he could not solve the quick way –meaning a bullet to the head._

_He wanted to do something to help; he wanted the regular Asami back, infuriating smirk and all. So he decided to get some dirt on Honjio, maybe if Asami had some leverage on the man he could solve whatever was bothering him._

_His contacts told him Honjio frequented a gentleman's club in Shinjuku. He had not been there in a couple of weeks but was sure to be there tomorrow night, the man was a loose tongue when he was drunk and all he had to do was stay around and record any important information with a hidden recorder. He had taken most of his savings out of the bank to pay his contact who in return paid one of the employees at the club for an outfit Akihito could use to blend in as a new hire._

_Akihito hated the costume, hated his bunny ears and the stupid tail on his ridiculously short and tight shorts. Most of all he hated the smacks on the ass from the costumers and the constant avoiding of frisky hands, but he would endure everything to help Asami. With a tray of drinks he approached Honjio's table and listened to the conversation he was having with his friends._

_The man was drunk now and laughing at the top of his lungs. Honjio made a couple of comments about Akihito's derrière, smacking him really hard on it, but Akihito knew better than to complain, he needed to stay close. Akihito smiled at the disgusting man while silently cursing him for the smack. He winked at Honjio with the most charming smile he could summon to his lips. The men got excited about his response and, after some very crass 'compliments,' Honjio pulled Akihito unto his lap and began petting his thigh._   
_He wanted to punch the old fart for touching him and for the filthy things he was whispering in his ear. He felt filthy sitting on the man's lap like a pet and smiling at his remarks, but he would endure, he would keep filling Honjio's glass until he got something useful._

_His patience had paid off, Honjio had been talking about underground dealings to his associates/friends, nothing specific but still enough to blackmail him by making him think you knew more than you actually did. He was about to leave the man's lap when a comment from one of the men had him sitting back down, pretending he had been adjusting his position to be more comfortable._

_"_ _So, Honjio-san, is it true you are marrying one of your daughters to the king himself?"The question had shocked him; Akihito knew there was no king in Tokyo other than Asami._

 _"_ _Oh, you heard about that fufufu. Yes, my oldest daughter Miko is soon to marry Asami-san. We have not made anything official yet but we are negotiating the arrangements. Young love is such an amazing thing… he is quite taken with her I tell you, they only met three weeks ago and already things have progressed this fast. Oh to be young and share a night of passion on the first meeting…"_

 _"_ _You are lucky Honjio, many have tried to marry off their daughters to him but never succeeded, you daughter must truly be something else."_

 _"_ _That she is Somae-san, that she is…"_

_Akihito excused himself before he passed out from shock and lack of oxygen. He ran to the bathroom feeling like the very air of his lungs had been sucked out of it, he felt lightheaded and his whole body trembled in opposition to the very idea of Asami's betrayal. The words said by Honjio spun around and around his head along with his own litany of denial._

_'_ _Asami, he cheated on me? Impossible. The night after I confessed? There is no way. He… cheated on me, he is getting married to that woman. Lies, lies all of it. He cheated on me? Why? What did I do? It's not true, it cannot be true, why would he do that when he finally knows how I feel?'_

_Takaba took deep breaths and calmed himself down, he changed to his regular clothing and exited the club with his mind made up to find out the truth._

_**The Next Week… The Confrontation, One Month After The Confession** _

_I was a nightmare, it had to be. The stills from the hotel video cameras he had done so much to get a hold of were lying to him. That was not Asami holding a woman's waist while another kissed his neck on the way to a suite. It was certainly not Asami kissing the woman on their way into the suite, and most definitely it was not Asami closing the door behind them._

_The time stamp on the still of Asami leaving the suite showed that he had spent the night… with them. It had to be a lie, it could not possibly be true, but it was… Asami had cheated on him with two women, the night after he had gathered the courage to confess his feelings._

_To rub salt on the wound of his already bleeding and tattered heart, Asami had gotten one of them pregnant. He could not confirm the information about the wedding but that did not matter now, it should be a given that he would marry the woman. She was going to give him a child, an heir to his empire of lies and corruption; he was sure now that it must be true. A man has to take care of the children he brings into the world after all, and Asami would always take care of the things that were his, like this child. They would probably want to get married before she starts to show. The woman was already two months pregnant and Asami had not said anything to him, nothing not even about the affair much less about the result of it._

_Akihito felt broken, betrayed, and hollow. Like someone had taken his very heart out of his chest and the rest of his internal organs with it. He cried, he creamed, he broke things he could never afford and then he made up his mind to confront Asami about it._

_Asami did not come home that night, he arrived to the penthouse mid morning the next day. Akihito was waiting for him, however this time there was no warm welcome, he did not take the jacket off him along with his briefcase and put them away. There was not a warm bath waiting for him, or a still warm meal on the table. Akihito did not serve him a drink, and would not serve him a plate, today there would not be a massage on his tired shoulders._

_What welcomed Asami was a very quiet and serious Akihito – a rarity in and of itself – an Akihito with his face set in stone, not even an emotion betraying his inner turmoil. Asami looked at his lover and wondered about the unusual behavior._

_"_ _Asami, can we talk for a minute? There are some things I would like to discuss."_

 _"_ _Sure, kitten. What would you like to talk about."_

 _"_ _Your affair, your soon-to-be wife, your unborn child. Where would you like to start?"_

_His stomach sunk at the words spoken in a cold tone. He felt like a child caught with his hands in the cookie jar. He should have known he could not keep this a secret forever._

_…_ _._

_Things escalated quickly after a point and it was difficult for Akihito to keep his temper in check. He was throwing things in all directions and screaming at his unfaithful lover._

_"_ _What the fuck did you think?! Did you really think I would never find out? How long did you think you could keep something like this from me? I'm a reporter Asami, you should have known the moment you started acting different around me that I would investigate what was going on… and to think I was actually worried about you!"_

_Asami kept trying to explain, kept trying to calm him down, but there was no satiating Akihito's fury. His heart was broken, he had been betrayed after opening his heart, and the only way to forget about the pain momentarily was to drown it in anger._

_"_ _What the hell were you thinking? You know, for a powerful and intelligent crime lord you can be truly stupid to fall for the oldest trick in the book. I doubted my place in your life for so long. I doubted your feelings, hell, I even denied my feelings for you. When I finally worked up the courage to tell you how I felt I knew you wouldn't give me an answer, I knew, and I was okay with it because I knew I had to give you time to say things in your own way. And you know what the irony of it is? In a way you did, you have showed me what I really mean to you, and it is not enough for me to stay. Maybe this is also my fault, I made a mistake. Do you want to know what that mistake was Asami? It was not moving in with you, or trusting you with my life, it wasn't even loving you. My biggest mistake was trusting you with my heart, and I should have known better than that. Good bye Asami, I hope it was all worth it."_

_He kept throwing things, he kept cursing at Asami. For making him trust him, for making him fall in love, for making him give the man his heart, and for hurting him in such a cruel way. Asami spoke but he heard none of it. The man tried to hold him in his arms but for once Akihito was able to prevent it._

_He was leaving the penthouse when his mind finally registered Asami's words; the man was asking him not to leave, to stay, to work things out. But his heart was no longer in his chest, Asami had ripped it out of him and stomped it into the cold ground. He would not stay, he would not try to work things out. He would not love the man anymore. Without turning around he let Asami know he would send for his things and not to come looking for him again. The last words to leave his lips before the door closed behind him were "I don't want to see you ever again." He prayed that Asami would leave him be so he could heal from such a deep wound to his heart, soul and pride._

_**-End of flashback-** _

How did life turned so fucked up? It all seemed to be going perfectly. He was happy, he was in love, and he felt cared for – treasured even. His job had been going well, he –surprisingly even to himself – had kept out of trouble, and no one had kidnapped or raped him. Things with a certain crime lord were going as well as things with a certain crime lord could go. How did things go to hell so quickly? He thought about the events that made it all into a shit-fest, starting after he said those three damned words. How he wished he could take those words back now. To have swallowed them to the deepest parts of his soul and prevented them from seeing the light of day.

It was late at night and he felt lonely without Asami.

"I guess it's too soon to be comfortable sleeping by myself." He said out loud.

Akihito looked around the room as he lay on the small bed. He could have gotten a bigger one, but a bigger cold bed would have only emphasized the fact that he was so alone. He tossed and turned thinking about the way things could have gone, the things that he would be doing with Asami right now if everything had not gone to shit because of that man's selfishness and disregard for his feelings.

"I need to get him out of my mind. He is going to be a father. He chose this and I should move on with my life." He said to himself. _'That woman, she must be around three and a half months pregnant now. Perhaps this is really what he wanted to begin with, it is something I could have never given him.'_

He was lonely without Asami, he was cold and he was sad. He drifted slowly into a dreamless sleep, the last thought in his mind being  _'When did I grow so attached to his presence? So dependent on him? I should have never said those words to him.'_

****VF****

It was late at night and he had just gotten to his "home," that woman was already asleep in the guest room. He took a shower and went straight to bed. 'Such a big bed… such a big, cold, empty bed.' He thought as his heart sought for the warmth his mind already knew would not be there.

It was late at night and he as lonely without Akihito. It was not just the sex, it was the companionship, the care, the little details that would warm his cold heart and soul. It was the light he had cast away in his carelessness. It has been a month and a half since Akihito left, the penthouse no longer smelled like him and everything without him felt cold.

He thought about all the things they had gone through to be together, all the things they had survived, all the happy moments of domestic bliss and how they were no more. For the first time since he was twelve years old Asami let tears run down his cheeks at the loneliness in his heart and passed out on his cold bed soon after.

****VF****

That same night, a man sat in a dark corner of a dark bar. He was well into his cups muttering to himself, the bartender was already considering cutting him off. The man suddenly screamed in anger and the bartender thought better of getting close.  _'Let him pass out and then I'll throw him out, he is not getting in anyone's face,'_ thought the stern-looking man behind the bar as he gave another beer to a salary man sitting before him.

"FUCK!" Screamed the man in the corner and the bartender's eyes were upon him again.

"FUCK! I told, I told him that was a stupid idea. I told him not to get involved, one just does not shit where he eats. But did he listen to me? No, he is just to cool to take anyone's advice, and now look at the shit that happened. I told him again and again not to get involved. I told him and he did not listen."

The man got up quickly and flipped his table before thrown his glass to the nearest wall and shattering it. The bartender decided it was time to get the grim-looking man out of his bar before things escalated. He asked three of the regulars who were not drunk yet to throw the man out.

"Stupid, stupid son of a bitch," he said looking at the men walking his way. "You see, I told him not to do it. I warned him of the consequences but he did not listen. He had his head all wrapped up in the clouds and saw no reason. There is just no way… it's just too stupid."

"Ok buddy, time to go home." Said one of the regulars as he held the man's arm in a tight hold.

"HEY! Aw, let go! I'm not done drinking yet, let go I tell you!"

The men grabbed him and after some struggling threw him out into the cold sidewalk. The man wobbled his way home, arriving later than it should have taken him. As he attempted to put his key into the lock of his door to gain access to his small apartment he missed the package sitting on the floor right next to his door. He finally got the door open and, after stumbling into his bedroom, passed out on top of the bed.

****VF****

The next morning a woman sat alone in a high class restaurant. She was drinking her morning coffee and reading the newspaper. Every so often she would look at the clock and make an annoyed face, she was going to be late if the person she was meeting didn't show up soon.

She had gone back to her newspaper and a smile crossed her lips when she got to the page announcing the tragic death of the youngest daughter of a company CEO in a strange accident. She read the article three times and that smile just grew a fraction bigger with each time. A man entered the restaurant hurriedly and franticly looked around for the person he was here to meet. Seeing her take a sip of her coffee he approached her table in hurried steps. The man sat down on the chair opposite to her and made his presence known.

"Madam, I am sorry I am so late to our appointment. Things got a little complicated and…"

"What do you mean complicated?" she said cutting him off. "You better not tell me that it's not done." She narrowed her eyes at him and the man trembled slightly.

"No… no… I finished it, I have it right here madam. Untraceable."

"And the other things?"

"Yes, with the specifications you asked."

"Good. Now give it to me and go away, I don't want to be seen with you. I will wire your payment to the usual account. Don't disappear yet in case I need more."

The man discretely handed her a small box before standing up and leaving the establishment. She smiled again, a devious evil smile, this was going smoother than she originally planned. She finished her coffee and paid for her breakfast leaving soon after. She had another appointment to go to and was already five minutes late for it.

****VF****

At the same time in a ramen shop, a blond young man spoke in whispers with an older man. The older man was wearing a long jacket and had his face lowered as if to hide from prying eyes.

"I'm telling you, there is something there. The guys at the precinct don't think so but I am sure something is going on. It's just too fishy and my gut is telling me to look into it. I mean, it's the fourth death somehow connected to them in two weeks. I can't look into it too closely because it would be too suspicious, and I know some of the other cops are dirty and this would call their attention. That's why I called you to do me this favor." The man passed a brown envelope to the younger one.

"This is all I have been able to gather and I trust you with it because I know how good you are and that you are clean. The payment we discussed will be paid by the mother of one of the victims when you deliver the information we need. Are you taking the job?"

"Yes, I am."

His contact did not need to know this but he has a personal interest in this case. He had already come across a suspicious death and in investigating it had been led to the same people.

****VF****

Kenta woke up mid morning. His head was killing him, he was thirsty, his eyes were sensitive to the light of day and he had missed work, but at this point he did not care. He stumbled his way to the bathroom and took a cold shower to help him wake up then made his way to the kitchen to find something greasy.

His mind kept drifting to the last conversation they had, the last time he had attempted to convince him to quit while he was ahead. But he had not listened and in a fit of anger left the small apartment closing the door behind him with a loud bang. Today he would see about the personal items left behind in the other room. Some he would give away, some he would keep and some would be sent to any family he had. He thought he remembered his friend mentioning a sister and mother in Osaka. Maybe the address was somewhere in the now resident-less room. He would look for it and send them his stuff later that week. For now he had to go cancel phones and other services as well as inform some people about the funeral and make arrangements for it.

He exited the apartment rubbing his eyes as they adjusted to the light. That package still laid there next to the door but in his rush to get things done he completely missed it. There was just too much to do, he had a funeral to plan.

****VF****

Akihito had just gotten back to his small apartment, on his way back he had purchased a newspaper and some snacks. He placed the paper on the low table before his well-used secondhand couch and went to get himself something to drink. When he came back to the couch with his drink in hand he took the newspaper and read the headlines, looking for interesting news. His eyes stopped at an article about an accident, the circumstances of which told him there might be something else to the accident. He read a name in the article, a name he recognized, and saw a photo of a familiar woman along with it.  _'Serves her right,'_  he thought, ' _life pays you back for what you do.'_

A realization dawned on him. He took the drown envelope that had been given to him earlier that day and emptied it on the table. His eyes opened wide as he read the information inside it and then he read the news article once more. This was all getting too fishy for his comfort and he decided to look into it.

****VF****

Asami was sitting in his limo on the way to Sion. He pondered about the feelings making his stomach heavy; sadness, loneliness, and over all, regret. No one would have guessed the inner turmoil in his heart or head just by seeing his face. His expression was as unreadable as usual and his image as pristine as it had always been, but he knew in his mind that what he felt in his heart, that sinking feeling in his stomach was regret. Regret for the way he disregarded the treasure he had been given. A treasure he did not deserve but had come to posses and now lost, perhaps forever. No, he would not think this way, he had to make things right with Akihito and somehow get forgiveness for his stupid mistake. He wanted things to go back to the way they were, he longed for the days of domestic bliss with his young lover.

When did he grow so attached? When did he become so dependent? It did not matter anymore. All that mattered was making things right with Akihito. Somehow he had to make the boy believe he was sorry.

He arrived at Sion and walked to his office seemingly with the confidence of a man who owned the very air everyone else breathed. In his mind, however, a myriad of accusations was floating around.

Asami Ryuichi sat behind his wooden desk in his office at Sion. A cigarette rested on his lips as he read the morning newspaper. A smirk was on his face and he suddenly had the urge to have celebratory glass of seventy-five year old scotch.  _'So, one of the Honjio sisters is dead. That takes care of half my problems. Now, if only the other one would drop dead my life would be considerably easier.'_

It did not matter though, in less than three weeks Honjio Yamato would deliver the goods he needed and at last he could get rid of him. Miko was another story though, that one he had yet to decide what to do with. He drank his scotch with a smile tugging at the corner of his lips wondering which suit to wear to the funeral.  _'Fufufu, maybe I would wear something festive…'_  After all to him that death was something to celebrate about.

*****VF****

"FATHER!" Miko rushed into the spacious living room of a mansion outside Tokyo. She ran towards her father and hugged him burying her face on his neck as she cried. Her father was crying as well, the way he shook her as he mourned the death of his young daughter made her be glad she was not getting morning sickness as frequently as she used to.

"My baby, my little girl… how could this happen to her? And for us to find out in such a way. I should have known something was wrong when she did not answer my calls. My poor little girl, to die in such a way. They said she was still alive when the car when up in flames."

"Do they know what caused the accident?" she asked, tears still running down her cheeks.

"There were bottles of alcohol in the car; they are saying she must have been drunk and lost control of the car. That she must not have seen the person driving toward her."

"Did they find the person she collided with?"

"No, when the paramedics and firefighters got to the scene the other person was gone. No one has come to claim the car or to give a statement of any kind. The car had no license plate so they think it might have been stolen."

"Oh father, this is so tragic. My poor little sister still had so much to live for. What are we going to do about the meeting with the board?"

"Don't worry about that, I have already sent a memo to them and they understand the situation. The board has agreed you are the best candidate to successor anyways. Even if they hadn't… with what has happened… it's the only thing we can do. I am so tired child, I don't know what to do anymore."

"Don't worry father, I will take care of the company and our plan. You just stay home this week and rest. I will take care of the funeral arrangements as well. Would you like me to stay with you a couple of days? I don't want you to be alone under the circumstances."

"Yes that would be good, I don't want to be alone either. I need to calm down, this has been so hard on me."  
"Sit down father, let me get you something to help you calm down and get some rest."

"Thank you Miko, you are a good daughter. I want you to know that even though you were not my favorite I still love you very much. Kaoruko was more talented but I always knew you would amount to great things too. Now everything rests on your hands."

"Thank you father, I love you too, and I understand Kaoruko was special to you. I want you to know it is ok, I never felt envy toward her."

"Such a good child, thank you."

"Wait here father; I will bring you something in a minute."

Her father nodded as he sat on the leather couch and she walked to the kitchen, fighting the smile that wanted to appear on her lips. In the kitchen she got a glass of water from one of the maids and from her purse she took out a small box. The box had various things in it – she took out a small container of pills and walked back to her father.

"Here father, this will help you get some rest and calm you down a bit." She said handing him one of the pills and the glass of water.

She led her father to his bedroom and laid him to rest on his bed, kissing him softly on his forehead. The man fell asleep shortly, his chest raising and falling smoothly as she played with what little hair was left on his head, the smile now visible on her lips.

She took out her phone and called a man she needed for the next step of her plan. She had been lucky to find him, he was just perfect.

"Ume-kun, it's me. Is my painting ready?"

"Yes Honjio-san, it is. You can pick it up any time this week, a beautiful replica of the original. It could easily be mistaken for it too."

"That is wonderful. I will see you on Thursday then. About the other business proposition I told you about, what have you decided?"

"It's not the type of thing I do and I could really get in trouble for it if someone finds out, but I need money to pay my debt and if you give me the amount you promised I should be able to pay it off. I will need some time to practice though, a week at least to make it perfect."

"Great then, I will bring some more documents with me on Thursday so you can look at it and practice doing it, it has to be perfect and no one can know it is a fake."

"I will start practicing it today from the one you already gave me then. By next week I should have mastered it.  
The woman hung up the phone and exited the room thinking that luck was finally on her side.

****VF****

Takaba Akihito was looking through some of the information in the envelope along with the newspaper and some pictures he had taken while following a lead to this case. One of his informants had given him information about one of the deaths he was investigating. The informant had said this man was the last person to see the maid alive. It had taken a lot of favors and snooping around but he finally found the man and began following him to see were the lead went. The man was exiting his home, talking on the phone and getting in his car, Akihito got on his vespa trying not to lose sight of him. He had followed the man to a location he knew well: Asami's building… where he used to live. The man picked up some stuff from one of the penthouses in the building and took them to a big house outside of Tokyo.

He snooped around the place and took some pictures. In some of those pictures was a woman he recognized, a woman who had ruined his life, the woman who now lived with Asami Ryuichi.

 _'_ _Somehow everything in this fucking city leads back to him.'_  He thought as he looked at the different pages before him.

Takaba continued to look at the details others had missed, the connections between seemingly unrelated incidents. He tried to connect all the dots, his gut told him all these things were connected but he could not figure out how. A man falls off a flight of stairs breaking his neck, a maid dies electrocuted, a bodyguard is shot defending his charge, a OBGYN commits suicide, and now the daughter of a CEO dies in a drunk driving accident. The only thing they all have in common is that they were somehow related to or worked for Yamato Enterprises.

"What the fuck is going on!"

****VF****

Kenta came back to his small apartment late in the afternoon. He still had a headache and was very tired. He was hungry too and contemplated what to make for dinner. He did not feel like eating but he knew he had to.  
Kenta fished for the keys to his apartment in his pockets, he was carrying too much stuff and it made the simple task difficult. He was about to put the keys into the lock when out of nowhere a cat ran between his legs and scared him so much he dropped everything he was holding.

He was cursing his crazy cat-lady neighbor as he picked up the scattered papers, items and his keys. Next to his door was a package he had not seen before. He looked at the sender and was surprised to see it was from Kunao. _'Why the hell was my roommate sending himself packages? And since when do dead people mail stuff? While I'm at it…When the fuck was Kunao in Fukuoka? He must have sent this before he died, why?'_

"I guess it doesn't really matter, I will just send it to his relatives in Osaka with the rest of his stuff." He said out loud and walked into the apartment placing the box on the table.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Miko begins to make her move and some parts of her plan are revealed, Aki investigates the deaths and learns some valuable information, Asami tries to open the lines of communication, and Aki has a heart to heart with Kirishima.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a beast.   
> Not much Asami in this chapter but plenty of stuff going on. Also, if you for some miraculous reason did not hate Miko yet, this is the chapter where you will certainly hate her.
> 
> I intended this fic to be around 6 or 7 chapters but the way it is going I’m expecting not to be able to wrap it up in just 7 chapters. I hope this chapter is to your liking because it took a lot of effort to finish it.

“Now where the hell did I put my shoe?”

Kenta was currently searching his apartment, he kneeled and bent his upper body to look under the couch.

“Let’s see, five hundred yen coin, my missing brown sock, a dead bug, dust, dust, dust… Is that a sandwich? How the hell did that end up here? Picture of my ex… definitely don’t need this… although… she is in her underwear. I think I’ll put it away for later.”

He continued to fish out things from under the couch until he realized what he was looking for had to be somewhere else. Kenta pulled his arm from under the couch. His sleeve and hand were covered in dust and what smelled like old barbeque sauce.

_‘Blegh… I need to get myself a woman who can take care of me. I’m too old to live the bachelor’s life and I’m beginning to fear what might be growing in this place. Yes, a nice woman, that’s what I need. One that cooks well, draws me a bath and keeps a clean home…’_

Half an hour later he finally found his shoe, it had been in the fridge all along, hiding behind the leftovers from dinner three days ago. Putting on the cold shoe and changing his long sleeve shirt for a clean one, Kenta left the apartment - he was running late for work. Kunao was a bit OCD when he was alive and after several days of his friend’s death, Kenta was feeling the after effects in a very visible way, his apartment looked like a battlefield and a dump had mated to produce it as a child. The package was still there, forgotten under piles of lord only knows what, on top of the table. It was the package his friend had somehow mailed himself before he died. It had been buried and forgotten and he had not sent it to Osaka as he intended to do.

****VF****

 “You changed your phone number again. This is the fifth time this month.” It was not a question but a statement of the obvious.

“Yeah, he tried calling me again. What does he even want from me? Doesn’t he understand that I do not want to see him or speak to him? Why won’t he let me move on with my life?”

“Maybe he just doesn’t want you out of his life.” Feilong took a sip from his tea and examined his lunch partner over the cups edge.

“He should have thought better about things then, before he shat all over whatever the hell we had.” Takaba’s voice rose with every word, and several of the patrons in the restaurant looked his way.

“Calm down, I’m just telling you what I think.”

 “Sorry Fei, I didn’t mean to yell at you. None of this is your fault, it’s just that he makes me so angry. Why does he keep calling me?”

“Believe me I am not siding with him or trying to help him be forgiven. If anything, I wish you had heeded my warning and stayed with me, I would not have done something so selfish and cowardly to you.”

“He is such a bastard…”

“Are you able to sleep on your own yet? You look tired.” He was looking at Akihito in a way that said ‘I will know if you lie to me’ so the boy decided to be honest with his –as of resent- close friend.

“Sometimes, it’s hard to sleep on my own these days but it doesn’t really matter. I’m working on this huge case and need the extra awake hours.”

“Do you need help falling asleep? I could stay here a week or two longer and keep you company in bed. It will be fun.”

Feilong was wiggling his eyebrows at Akihito and the boy could guess the kind of fun the Chinese was referring to. As much as his body was craving some attention lately, he would rather not go there and complicate his life more than it already was. Rutting with Feilong was not what he needed right now.

“Are you flirting with me?” Asked Akihito, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes at Feilong.

“Maybe? Is it working?” Feilong smiled mischievously at him, he had missed their playful banter.

“Not really, no.” He said in fake seriousness.

“Then that wasn’t flirting.” Feilong was chuckling and pushing his long hair away from his face, it made Akihito smile as well.

“No offence Fei but I will have to pass on your offer.”

Feilong gave a sigh of feigned sadness and looked at his hands as if dejected.

“Ah, well, at least I tried.”

There was an awkward silence between them for the next five minutes. Feilong paid for their meal and they walked to an empty park where they sat next to each other on a shaded bench, away from the prying eyes in the street.

“I’m sorry, I just don’t think I am ready for this kind of thing yet.” Akihito broke the silence and Feilong held his smaller hands into one of his.

“Don’t worry about it, Akihito,” Feilong extended his other hand and held the boy’s chin in it to make him look into his eyes. He caressed Akihito’s cheek and lips with his thumb and smiled warmly at him. “I do not want to pressure you into anything and have things fall apart because you were not ready. Just know that regardless of anything going on, I am still your friend and I’m here for you if you ever need me. Don’t ever hesitate to call me.”

Tears ran down Akihito’s cheeks and Feilong used his hand to wipe them away. He really enjoyed this vulnerable Akihito, the one that needed caring and gentleness, but he had grown to miss the mischievous and strong willed Akihito. The one with fire in his eyes, the one he had come to know under the strangest of circumstances, and with whom he had slowly formed a friendship of sorts. He would do anything to have that Akihito back. Mentally, he cursed Asami for his stupidity and gathered Akihito into his arms, softly kissing the top of the boy’s head.

Akihito allowed Feilong to hold him tight for a few minutes, he would be lying if he said he did not need the closeness, but he was not going to sulk all day and ruin Feilong’s visit. He gathered himself and pulled out of Feilong’s embrace, facing the Chinese with a smile.

“What would you like to do now? If you still have time there is a photography gallery I would like to show you.”

There he was, the Akihito he knew was already starting to come back. Feilong smiled, glad that Akihito was able to surpass any obstacle and keep on living, glad that Akihito had an inner strength that propelled him forward.

“I have cleared all day so we can do anything you want and go anywhere you would like to go.”

“Haha,” Akihito smiled nervously before he spoke and it made Feilong raise a questioning eyebrow. “lets go this way then.”

“What are you so nervous about?”

“Hahaha, well is just that somehow this is starting to feel like a date or something. You know, shopping in the morning, lunch at a restaurant, chatting at a park and now we are going to the gallery. It’s just that I did not expect this when you came over this morning.”

“It’s ok Akihito. It is not a date, unless you prefer to label it as such.”

“Nah, I think I would rather just enjoy our fun day and not put any labels on it.”

“Fine by me then.”

They still had all afternoon and night to entertain themselves, and Tokyo had plenty to offer. Some part of him was disappointed that Akihito did not want to consider their day together as a date but he reminded himself that it was not what the boy needed at the moment. Feilong knew how to be patient when things were worth it and Akihito was definitely worth waiting for. Looking at his watch he noted it was near two in the afternoon.

_‘Yes, there is plenty of time ahead of us.’_

****VF****

The woman paced angrily around the room, her plans were going slower than she expected and she had wanted to make her move earlier in the game, to remove and stones from her path before her plot was found out. But that disgusting man was still walking around like he was in the prime of his health despite the poison she had been slipping him.

She needed that man out of the way before he ruined everything and she found herself in dire circumstances. She hated that man, at some point she had harbored warm feelings for him, but now she hated him with all her heart… she wanted him dead.

One cannot be a dog fighting for two bones at the same time, she had to secure one first and then move onto the other, but that damn man would not just drop dead already.

_‘Why does he have to be so resilient?’_

She pulled out her phone and after checking that it was safe to talk, she called the man who had sold her this devious yet slow to act product, she wanted to have a time frame in which to move her plans forward.

The phone rang about five times and she was already losing patience when the voice of a man answered. He had obviously run to answer the phone if with breathless reply was anything to go by.

“You said this would work, that it was infallible and effective but I see no results. You better not have tricked me or I will see to it that you make a rather speedy trip to the top of my list and you know what list I’m referring to, so don’t test me.”

“I did what you asked madam, infallible, untraceable and painful. You have to let it reach every part of the body though. It has to build up in his tissue before it starts eating at him from the inside. He is a large man so it would take a bit of time to take effect but I swear to you that it will work. It will be the most painful death imaginable as his body turns on itself and starts rotting from the inside out, it will look like he rotted and his insides poisoned him. the first thing to go will be the walls of his large intestine, the duodenum and the lower stomach where small holes will appear and as more holes appear the tear will become bigger, the intestinal fluids, feces and stomach acid will begin to flood the abdomen and the chest cavity and in turn poison all the other organs until they begin to rot the heart as well. You must watch for his breath, it will smell like something died in him and his stomach would start to bulge as his abdomen fills up with the various secretions. He will not feel anything at first, which is why you are slipping him the pills I gave you, to num the pain until it is too late and then is just a matter of letting him suffer and waste away slowly as he dies before your very eyes. You will know when to stop giving him the sedatives, after his heart and lungs are compromised sepsis (blood poisoning) will set in. He will develop chills, high fevers, rapid breathing, and increased heart rate and become pale. That would be the first stage, the next stage will come in a day or two as this will advance fast, he will get confused which will aid you keep him at home and away from a doctor, his skin will develop red spots, won’t be able to urinate and then will go into shock. This is when it gets painful so I advise you to give him the drug to enhance his sensory response when he starts presenting symptoms of confusion, it will enhance his every feeling and his pain will be ten times worse as he suffers from the slow death. My product is a work of art Ms. and I guarantee it will work.”

“How long do I have to wait then?”

“I would give it about a week. With a man of his size I would say by next Tuesday you should be attending a funeral. I assure you that is not the kind of corpse you want to let sit for more than I day… open casket is out of the question too, it will be some nasty business. I would go as far as burning everything in his room too, the smell of feces, rotting and disease really sticks to clothing, bedding and furniture… a coat or two of paint wouldn’t be a bad thing either. Nasty business I assure you… nasty business.”

“Is there any way to make it go faster? I really want to be rid of him.”

“Not unless you want people to check into the death madam, it is already a fast progressing deal. He will go from stage one to stage two in one day.”

“No I guess not then. Very well, I will continue to slip him your product as usual.”

Miko hung up the phone, ending the call without even saying goodbye, it had been five days since she got the poison from the man and although she had hoped the outcome would be sooner, she supposed that waiting one more week to see her father die like a miserable rat would not be a bad thing.

What else could she entertain herself with for the rest of the time she was to spend at the estate, either way she had already informed Asami she would be taking care of her father – though he did not know it would be in more ways than the obvious. Might as well make sure the man dies.

Oh, how she would have loved to give Asami the same ending, if two people close to her dying of the same illness did not raise suspicions and pointed fingers in her direction. Besides, that smug bastard never ate or drank anything she gave him. Always on guard that one, but that is expected of the elites. However, what she has planned for him is something he would never guess and she still had plans for Asami Ryuichi, the man was still alive because she needed him to be.

This past five days since she had temporarily left Asami’s penthouse had been very productive. In one week she would come back and take care of Asami Ryuichi.

****VF****

Akihito arrived home a bit earlier than he would have liked, some urgent business had called Feilong away from him and the blonde found himself being dropped off before his building at five thirty pm. He would have liked to hang out with the Triad leader a bit longer, after all Takaba Akihito did not particularly enjoy the idea of going back to his quiet apartment.

He walked up the steps to his floor and walked around the corner into his hallway. There in front of his door, a tall and imposing figure leaned on his doorframe like it owned the building and everything in it including him.

_‘Why is he here again?’_

He gave a defeated sigh and looked at the man leaning against his door. As he came closer he inspected the raven haired man, noting the subtle differences in his appearance.

_‘He has lost some weight, I wonder if he is not eating well. Agh, why do I even care if he is eating well or not, whatever happens with his life now is no longer my business.’_

“How was your date with Feilong?”

_‘I should have known he would find out…’_

“What do you want, Asami?”

“You keep changing your phone number, even though you know I will have the new one minutes after. Why won’t you talk to me? You know sooner or later you will have to give in.”

“First it was not a date, Fei and I were just hanging out,” _‘Fei? So they are this close now…’_ thought Asami as he listened to Akihito’s tirade. “we are friends and that is what friends do. Second, why do you care? Is not as if there was anything between you and me and in case you forget you do not own me. You are free to do whatever you feel like with your life and I am free to do the same. Lastly, I keep changing my number in hope that it will finally sink into that thick skull of yours that we are over and I don’t want to listen to your sorry excuses or your explanations. I don’t want to talk to you so please just leave me be already.”

“Akihito, come back home. We can make things work.”

 Akihito’s words were poison dipped in sarcasm, a substance that burned deeper and worse than the strongest acid as they pierced a spot in Asami’s chest he had only become aware of having when Akihito left.

“Come back! Why should I come back? So I can live the rest of my days in fear of you doing this shit to me again? So I can go back to the uncertainty of not knowing what I mean to you or what my place in your life is? Or is it that you want me to play roommates with that woman and change your child’s diapers when he is dirty? That would be fantastic wouldn’t it? Asami Ryuichi, the man who has it all and even gets to have his wife and mistress living harmoniously under the same roof. Erase your delusions and look at the reality of what you caused already. I am not coming back so you can rip my heart out again.”

“It will be different this time, I…”

“You what? Will kill the woman carrying your child? Will cast them away to a place where no one will ever see them again? That woman is the mother of your child, that woman and that child are your family now. You chose this, you chose her when you disregarded everything we had gone through together for a night of fun.”

“It wasn’t like that Akihito.”

“Then how was it? Because I sure don’t understand why you threw it all away. You know what, don’t bother telling me because I don’t want to hear it anymore. I don’t want anything to do with you, now if you’ll excuse me I have work to do.”

Akihito opened his door and hastily entered his apartment closing the door behind him. Akihito leant against the door, hoping to hear the man’s steps walking away from his apartment. The young man knew that as much as he tried to deny it, he still cared for Asami, still craved the man’s touch. He still hurt every time he saw the golden eyes that haunted his every dream.

“I will come back next week, maybe then you will be more willing to talk. I will call you again tomorrow morning, if you feel you are ready to answer the phone. I don’t want you out of my life Akihito, and I know you don’t want me out of yours either.”

The footsteps where growing fainter as they distanced themselves from the closed door behind which Takaba still stood, torn between running after the man who broke his heart or staying his ground. When he came out of his daze and opened the door it was already too late, Asami was already gone. Maybe it was for the best, maybe it was not meant to be anymore.

 

****VF****

“Father, it’s time for your medicine.” Miko walked to the large tree under which her father was enjoying the shade and breeze as he took some tea and ate a mid afternoon snack.

“Oh, Miko-chan, you are so good to me and take such good care of this old man. You are such a good daughter. It makes me feel that I should have demonstrated how much I loved you more often.”

“Of course I will take care of you father, I love you, and you need my care now more than ever.”

“Thank you again dear… for staying with me. After your sister’s death, things have not been the same, I feel a growing weakness in me with each passing day.”

“Oh, do not worry about that father, it’s the stress of the situation and the sadness over my sister wearing you down. I’m sure soon things will start to feel normal again. Besides, you have me here to give all the care you need.”

“You are so good to me Miko.” He said taking the pills and water from her hand and swallowing them. “So good to me, thank you.”

“Of course father, drink this one too. It will help with your tiredness.” She gave him the sedative with a warm smile and watched intently as he swallowed it.

She walked toward the house and left the man still sitting under the tree and looking up at the sky. Her back was to him as she walked away and she knew the self satisfied smile currently on her face would not be seen by her father.

_‘Take your “medicine” you bloody old bastard, take it like a good ignorant fool and let me put you out of my misery fufufu.’_

Inside the house, she put away the small box with the pills and other items where no one would find it. Miko took as shower and dressed to impress, he high heel shoes marked a happy cadence as she took her purse and walked to her expensive red car. Half an hour later she was entering a small house and being led into its living room by a young artist who appeared to be in his late twenties.

She sat on a chair while the young man sat before her and she crossed her legs, letting her short skirt ride up her thighs, giving him a peek of her creamy skin and black underwear. The young man swallowed audibly and his pants began to tighten as he kept his eyes on the transparent cloth.

“Ume-kun,” She said, her voice dripping with sweetness in a way that would make any self aware person sick. “I really loved the paintings, they were amazing replicas. You are truly a great artist.”

“T-thank you Honjio-san.” He was finally able to tear his eyes away from her legs and now looked to her face. “You are not here to compliment my art though, are you? You are here for our other business.”

“Fufufu, yes you are right. Were the documents I brought you of any help?”

“Yes, I have mastered it. Now even its owner or his closest men wouldn’t be able to know it’s fake. Did you bring the document with you?”

She handed him a folder with forms and he read them over.

“This should be all I need. Once you get it done I will make the money transfer and you will be debt free.”

“Thank you.”

She watched as the pen danced over the forms and once he handed them to her she smiled widely at him.

“Tell me, what did you do with the evidence?”

“Once I mastered it I burnt everything just like you said I should. I won’t be tied to this and you won’t be tied to me.”

“Good,” she reached into her purse and held a gun. “now then, it’s time to get rid of loose ends.”

“What do you mean?”

Miko pulled out the gun and pointed it at his forehead. Ume froze in fear and his eyes widened in realization.

“It means I don’t need you anymore.” She pulled the trigger and watched the lifeless body fall to the ground, laughing maniacally she walked back to her car and drove away.

****VF****

_ The next day - _

Finally a break! The man he had spent days following turned out to be a gun for hire. Someone notorious for doing dirty work without asking questions. As of now, this man appeared to be working for someone in the Honjio household. The maid did indeed work for the Honjio family, so Akihito now knew the who and the how of the woman’s untimely demise, the big question was why? Why would they have a woman who had served them loyally for many years killed and stage it as an accident? What were they trying to cover up? Akihito could not help but think that maybe the woman heard something she shouldn’t have, and they killed her before she opened her mouth.

_‘Why would Asami let a gun for hire, someone with no real loyalties to anyone enter his home? It was probably that poor woman’s father, maybe he was going to make a move against Asami and was using his own daughter as a spy.’_

The thought of it sickened him, that a man could use his own child as a tool for power. For all he knew, the woman he loathed was just another victim in Honjio’s scheme, another innocent bystander sucked into the web of deceit and manipulations. He did not like it, but he had to admit he was worried about Asami, he worried for the man’s life and safety even though it was stupid to feel that way, Asami practically had a whole army at his disposition.

He wrote some notes on the edges of the documents he was looking at and wrote down some other things to research and look into on a notepad next to the pictures he had taken the last few days and the statements he had gathered from different people.

His reporter’s gut told him that the maid was the key to it all, that if he followed the trail of the maid’s murder and discovered why she was killed, he would finally get the piece of the puzzle that would allow him to discern the picture and once he knew what image the pieces presented, solving the whole puzzle would be easy. It had to be the maid, she had already led him to the killer, and in the pit of his stomach he felt the maid was the clue to it all.

He took his camera and left his apartment in a hurry, Akihito set his mind on stalking the maid’s home to see if he can catch someone in his viewfinder that may lead him to another breakthrough. From what he had learned, someone was going to come pick up the maid’s things and empty the place this week and he wanted to be there when it happened. Maybe this person knew something that would give him some answers.

****VF****

It was late and he was tired, his back hurt from the position he was perching on a branch practically all day long. He really needed to find a different hiding place if he was going to continue staking out the maid’s home. The food he had bought on his way back was starting to become very heavy in his hands and he sped up his steps so he could get home sooner and let go of his load.

Akihito went up the stairs and turned the corner into his hallway, once again there was a tall man waiting in front of his door, this one came about every four to five days to “catch up” with him, but Akihito suspected he came to “check up” on him and his emotional state to relate it to his boss. Regardless of whether it was to catch up or check upm this man was someone he could deal with without feeling like shit, as long as the man was not here to speak on Asami’s behalf.

“Hey there Kirishima, have you waited long?”

“Not really.” Said the secretary, he adjusted his glasses and shifted to the side so Akihito could get to the door easier.

It still amused the blonde that Kirishima still came around and was secretly and not so subtly trying to play match maker and mend things between Asami and him. He entered his apartment with the tall secretary following close behind him.

Kirishima sat on the reclining chair he had claimed as his own ever since he had started coming visit Takaba and watched the boy put some groceries away.

“Have you eaten yet? I’m making kamo nanban today and you are welcome to have some.”

“Hm, thanks.”

****VF****

Kirishima watched as the young man walked around the small kitchen cutting, dicing, slicing and throwing ingredients into the pot. The cramped apartment began to fill with the various smells of food as Takaba prepared a small feast.

His phone went off and he pulled it out without bothering to check who the message was from, he already knew who it was.

**Asami-sama: What’s for dinner?**

He quickly replied to the message taking care not to let Akihito see him.

**Kamo nanban soba (somehow he managed to get duck out of season), steamed rice, korokke, and tsukemono. Takaba-kun said he learned how to cook these things last week while in Kyoto.**

The phone beeped again minutes after he sent the reply.

**Asami-sama: How is he?**

_‘This two are so ridiculous… one is too stubborn to say he is sorry and the other is too stubborn to listen. And now here I am like an eighteenth century matriarch playing go between for them. If anyone had ever told me this would become part of my duties I would have called them insane and shot them on the spot, the simple idea is just preposterous, yet here I am.’_

**He seems to be doing fine. Takaba seems to be starting to smile again, I believe soon he would be willing to talk to you.**

Asami did not reply to that last text, Kirishima was secretly glad about it, because being stuck in this awkward situation was bad enough without having to assess the emotional state of such difficult people.

Akihito began set the table and Kirishima joined him in putting the dishes down. They sat in front of each other and ate in silence for the first five minutes until Akihito broke the silence.

“How are things going at work?”

“They are…” Kirishima had no idea how to answer this question, how much should he say without being too obvious that he wanted to help mend things? “They are normal, not much out of the ordinary, save for not having to chase danger seeking brats all over Tokyo.”

“Hahaha, I guess that’s well. But you have to admit you enjoyed chasing danger seeking brats all over Tokyo, it saved you from having to go to the gym and kept you and the guys in top shape.”

Even stoic Kirishima had to smile with fondness at such a statement, putting up with Takaba’s habits had been a chore but somehow everyone ended up endeared to the boy. He already missed the banters with the spunky brat and things were not the same since he left Asami’s side.

Kirishima patted his stomach and looked at the blonde.

“Yeah, your absence is rather noticeable.”

The double meaning of the words was not lost on Akihito and he decided to play along and see where the secretary wanted to go with this. If Kirishima wanted to play passive aggressive by all means he would play.

“Is it now? Maybe my presence should have been more appreciated then.”

“It was appreciated, it was… cherished.”

“Things that are cherished are not taken for granted Kirishima, nor are they easily tossed aside.”

“That is true, however sometimes one doesn’t know the value of things until they are no longer in our possession or they are in someone else’s hands.”

_‘So that’s what this is about, he wants to know about what is going on with Feilong.’_

“Maybe it’s good that someone else has it then, maybe that someone else appreciates it more. You know what, to hell with this bullshit. I’m going to label with you Kirishima, there is nothing going on between Feilong and me. Not for lack of interest on his part but simply because I am not ready to put my heart out again. Right now I am more focused on putting my life together than jumping on another rollercoaster relationship.”

“He misses you.”

“I miss him too but he made his choice and I made mine. I don’t want to hurt like that ever again.”

“You know he cares for you, he made a mistake but he really needs you in his life. We all need you in his life, you were the only source of light to reach the darkness we live in.”

“Need me, I doubt it, he has people to keep him company. He doesn’t have to come back to an empty place and think about what ifs or whys.”

“He is not living at the penthouse with her, Asami-sama doesn’t care about that woman. She is allowed to live there but he rarely goes to the condo anymore.”

“That certainly explains something that has been nagging me.”

“What is that?”

“I was wondering why Asami let a hired gun with no affiliations or loyalties to him come and go from his home as he pleases.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the man walking in and out like he owns the place. I have not been stalking your boss in case you are wondering, something else led me there. Even if he doesn’t care about her, he should really be paying attention to who comes in and out of his home, regardless of whether or not he lives there anymore.”

Kirishima stood up from the table and gathered his things deep in thought. He needed to inform Asami of what Takaba had said, if there truly was a hired gun coming and going from Asami’s private home they needed to know why.

The secretary was about to open the door and leave the apartment when Takaba’s voice called his name from behind him.

“Kirishima.” He turned around to face the boy and took the offered containers filled with leftovers of tonight’s dinner.

“You almost forgot your leftovers.”

“Oh, thank you Takaba-kun.”

Again he turned around and the small voice of the blond was almost lost between them but Kirishima heard it none the less.

“He’s lost some weight, make sure he eats it all.”

“Hm” Kirishima walked out of the apartment.

He should have known that Takaba would figure out his coming for dinner and taking some of it with him was for Asami’s sake. He should have known when he saw Takaba make dinner for three starting the second day he came over. The boy swore he did not care about Asami anymore but in the amount of food Akihito cooked every time he came around, he could notice that even though he still hurt it was almost impossible for someone like Takaba not to care.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See, I bet you all hate that woman by now.
> 
> Do let me know what you think about this chapter. 
> 
> Also, isn’t it cute that Kirishima is playing go between and getting leftovers for Asami? I bet Asami misses Akihito’s cooking.
> 
> Please let me know your opinion of this chapter.  
> Setsuna


	6. Chapter 6 - The end of it all part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kirishima talks to Asami, Aki finds out vital info and Kenta opens the package.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, before you get to the chapter I will begin by apologizing for deviating from my updated order and jumping to this fic. I was stuck with inspiration for this fic and could not work on anything else. Before you get to the chapter I also wanted to let you know the timeframe of the events happening here. I will begin with what happened last chapter to put things into clearer perspective Feilong’s non-date with Aki was on Sunday. Asami went to see Aki that Sunday afternoon/night at that same time Miko is having her disgusting and very sick phone conversation with the scientist. Monday afternoon Miko gives her father medicine and goes to kill Ume (the artist). Between Monday morning and Tuesday morning Aki gets a break in his investigation and spends the rest of Tuesday staking out the maid’s place, when he gets home that night he finds Kirishima at his door and they have dinner and a talk. This chapter picks up on that same Tuesday night right after Kirishima leaves Aki’s apartment. Most of the chapter though happens at various times on Wednesday (Aki has been busy) and the last section with Miko is on late Thursday morning. I hope this helps you put the story into a time frame.
> 
> ************************You can skip this if you want**********************
> 
> In another note I am finally growing up (25 years… took me long enough…) I am finally moving from my collection of katana’s, Medieval swords, Spanish sable’s and a Conan the barbarian replica sword (the original movie with Arnold Schwartzenegger) and finally getting myself a gun to take to the shooting range, in addition I am getting a hunting bow and some razor edge arrows in preparation for hunting season when I hope to kill something and bring its carcass home like a proud Amazon warrior or something along those lines. The hubbie and I are excited at the prospect of roughing it out in the wilderness for a couple of days and hopefully not coming home with our hands empty.
> 
> Also after months of wait my daughter started calling me mama instead of just calling both her father and me dada… I guess she finally knows the difference and the first time I heard it my heart pounded and melted at the same time. She has teeth now so she is biting (which I have no idea what to do about) and is also walking… seems like everything is happening all at once with the little one.
> 
> I should probably stop boring you with the details of my hardly eventful life and let you move up to the story… 
> 
> ****************************************************************************
> 
> Thaks to Ashida and Rekishichizu for betaing.
> 
> I do not own Finder Series

The bespectacled secretary hurried into his boss’ private suite at Park Hyatt hotel. He had told Asami he was giving that woman too much freedom to roam about his private home as she pleased, but his boss would not listen. He wanted nothing to do with Honjio Miko, which apparently included watching what she did every moment of the day. Guilt did strange things to his boss, mainly make him sloppy, Asami had forbidden him to bring up that woman unless it was absolutely necessary, and Kirishima could only guess it was because he did not want to be reminded of how bad he messed up and how seriously fucked up the situation with Takaba was because of it.

 If this particular bit of news was not considered something absolutely necessary, then Kirishima had no idea what was, so he knocked on his boss’s door and entered the suite as soon as he was given permission to do so. Asami had made many mistakes in the past few months, and Kirishima considered it was high time for a wakeup-call, there would be no more ignoring that woman and leaving her to her own devices, even if Asami told him not to, he would go against orders if necessary and have someone watch her at all times.

 Kirishima placed the food on the table before Asami and let the man dig in. The golden eyed man had indeed lost some weight lately and the secretary wanted to allow the man to enjoy the home cooked meal he had been looking forward to all day before addressing the more worrisome matters.

 He only took a couple bites and was about to get up to put the rest away in the small fridge when Kirishima’s voice stopped him.

 “He said to make sure you eat it all.”

 Asami chuckled lowly and sat back down to finish his dinner, soon after he had emptied the container of food and indicated Kirishima to sit down with him at the table. He had noticed his loyal secretary seemed like he had something to say and frankly he was also tired of the man just standing there watching him eat, at least right now he would just like someone to sit at the table while they talked, it was yet another thing he missed about not having Akihito around.

 Asami saw his secretary’s face and his eyes immediately focused on the almost imperceptible worry lines edged there. He gave Kirishima a slight nod, indicating the secretary could present to him the details of whatever situation had him in such state.

 Not wasting a second in thinking it twice, Kirishima got to the topic of tonight’s discussion.

 “Asami-sama, Takaba-kun has informed me of something rather alarming.”

 At the mention of Akihito and it being paired with the word “alarming” Asami looked into Kirishima’s eyes, giving him his undivided attention. Seeing this as a signal to continue, the secretary wasted no time.

 “The exact words were ‘I was wondering why Asami let a hired gun with no affiliation or loyalties to him come and go from his home as he pleases.’ When I asked him to elaborate on this, he said there has been a man walking in and out like he owns the place. I had informed him you were no longer living there and he suggested that regardless more attention should be paid to who comes to your property. Asami-sama I fear the boy is right, I understand that you want nothing to do with that woman and only allow her to live there until our business with her father is done and you can dispose of her, I understand why you do not even want to hear her name spoken or anything related to her... I apologize for being so forward sir but that needs to stop, if there is a killer for hire coming into your property and you are not the one there then that leaves only one person to be the one using his services, the only person currently living in your home, Miko-san herself.”

 “How did Akihito find this killer for hire?”

 “He said he did not find out because of anything related to you, but that something else led him to your condo. Sir, you know that Takaba is like a hound, when he sniffs the trail of a good story he won’t let it go and will follow the trail wherever it leads until he has that story. I believe that there is something going on that we need to become aware of before we are all dragged into whatever that woman is planning, which to be hiring a killer, we can safely guess includes the murder of someone.”

 “Find the killer and question him, then get rid of him. Have Miko followed at all times, if she is planning something against me directly or something that could potentially hinder my business, make her disappear.”

 “Yes sir.” Kirishima got up from his chair and walked out of the condo already on the phone passing Asami’s orders to his men.

 The next day, they had found who the hired gun was, a man named Kobe Shouichi, however the man was highly trained and managed to escape, killing four of Asami’s men in the process and injuring seven others with a rudimentary bomb set as a trap in the man’s home. The rest of the week they had searched all over for the killer but it was quickly obvious the man had gone into hiding.

 At the other side of Tokyo the day the hunt for the killer began, Miko’s phone went off, she had received a text and the screen of her phone displayed the name KoShou. She grunted, annoyed to be contacted by the man when she had clearly told him to lay low and wait for her to contact him, then she read the message and was momentarily taken by fear.

 KoShou:

**My identity has been compromised, Asami is on my trail. I will go into hiding for now until things are safe.**

She quickly typed a reply and sent it to the man.

**Stay hidden until I contact you about your next job.**

****VF****

Wednesday that same week Akihito had gotten tired of waiting around for the maid’s friend to show up, so he decided he might as well just break into the place and see if he could find some useful information or some sort of clue. He had been crouching in front of the door making use of his tool kit and lock picking skills – courtesy of his friend Sumewari Jun – when someone tapped him on the shoulder.

“Young man, would you care to explain what you are doing?”

 Of course the maid’s friend would choose the moment he was currently in the middle of breaking and entering to finally show. This whole thing going on without something stupid happening would be some real lucky shit and life couldn’t just have that could it? Nope, no lucky breaks for Takaba Akihito, he had to go through some embarrassing shit at least three times a month or his life’s quota would not be met somehow.

 Slowly he turned around and paced the small woman wearing a navy blue and white maid’s uniform. _‘Well,’_ He thought. _‘at least I finally got to see the woman.’_

 “You better scram before I start screaming about a thief trying to break in and this place gets swarmed by neighbors, surely one of them will call the cops and you will be arrested.”

 He was standing before her by now and waving his arms apologetically in front of her.

 “Wait, please, I am not a thief I swear. I’m a reporter, here is my card.”

 “A reporter? Then why were you trying to break in?” she was still looking at him suspiciously while holding his card, but by some small mercy of life she was not screaming bloody murder. She was still listening to him.

 “I am so sorry about that, I am investigating the death of the person who lived here and wanted to see if I could find some information in her place.”

 “Why would you be investigating an accident, she accidentally dropped a hair drier into the bathtub while bathing. It was a stupid thing to have plugged in while you bathe but it happens. There is nothing to investigate about it.”

 “You see ma’am, it’s my belief that her death was not an accident but it was set up to look like one.”

 “Oh good heavens, you think someone killed her? I always told her she worked with weird people…”

 “Would you be so kind as to tell me about your friend? What did she tell you about the people she worked for? Was she in any trouble? Was there something she thought strange happening at her place of work?”

 “That is an awful lot of questions Mr…” She let the sentence hang between them, indicating he should provide his name and comparing it to the one printed on the card.

 “Takaba” He supplied and she looked somewhat less suspicious.

 “Mr. Takaba, how about you accompany me inside and I answer your questions there. This is no place to be talking about such things and if she was indeed murdered as you think, I feel like her soul would know no rest until she has justice.”

 From what the woman was saying, Akihito learned that the maid, Tanaka Rika, was one of those women who liked to gossip and spy on people to fuel her information sharing hobby. Sadly the woman worked such long hours at the Honjio Main house that she barely had any friends to share her gossip with other than Hirakawa Makio, another fan of gossiping and the woman currently telling Akihito down to the kind of underwear Tanaka-san favored.

 Apparently, they had worked for the same rich household but Tanaka had been caught spying on the wife having sex with her step son and been fired before she was able to do some damage. Soon after she applied for a job at Honjio’s house and with the recommendation of the wife – who was being blackmailed – got the job as a maid.

She had been working for Honjio over three months when she resumed her activities as a ‘researcher of rich people’s behaviors and seeker of juicy secrets’ as she liked to refer to herself. She shared plenty of disturbing things with her friend Hirakawa-san, who advised her to leave that job and seek one with less eccentric bosses. From all the stuff Hirakawa shared with Akihito, there were some that particularly caught his interest.

 The family dynamics in the Honjio family were, to put it mildly, fucked up.

The father adored his younger daughter, this in and of itself wasn’t that strange, parents usually were more affectionate with their youngest child, it was the fact that he was openly scornful with his older daughter for apparently no reason that he found strange. The older daughter in turn pretended to love her father and sister, but when no one was watching looked at them with hatred and envy. Apparently she did not do that much of a good job of hiding her true feelings while at home, because many of the employees were aware of her feelings toward the rest of her family.

Then it was the matter of the affair, Honjio Miko had been fucking her personal bodyguard constantly according to Tanaka. Tanaka-san commented to Hirakawa-san that she thought Honjio-san was aware of the affair and that she thought he did not want shame to come upon his household because of an illegitimate child, because the man had ordered her to give pregnancy preventing medicine to his daughter in her tea.

Tanaka-san told her friend that she had spied on them several times in the middle of their carnal activities and had thought about blackmailing them, but she never got to as she died three days after making her decision to blackmail the eldest daughter.

Or so Hirakawa-san thought, Akihito on the other hand was almost certain that she did try to blackmail the eldest daughter but got a rather terminal visit from the man Honjio kept around to do his dirty work. The maid had been killed to shut her up, but in the end killing her had not worked to silence her as the woman’s blabbering to her friend had provided Akihito with valuable information.

The following days had been almost as productive as the day he learned about the affair with the bodyguard… almost. He had found that the man who ‘fell’ off the flight of stairs, a recently unemployed curator in a gallery, had not as much fallen as being pushed, however that was as much info on the matter as he could find out, so he moved on to the next victim.

The OBGYN who committed suicide was the same one who took care of both Honjio daughters’ womanly issues, this was as much as he could get on the woman, but his theory was that maybe Honjio-san had paid the woman to do an abortion for his daughter to get rid of an unwanted pregnancy. It certainly fit the bill of “kill anyone who knows she has been screwing the bodyguard.” After all, he could not throw her at Asami’s feet’s if she was already pregnant. It would be a stupid idea to try to pass any baby as Asami’s, the man could easily bribe the OBGYN to perform a prenatal paternity test regardless of therisk these fetal samples and their collections pose to both the mother and the fetus.

 He had no idea what caused the death of the younger Honjio daughter, but after reading the report on the ‘accident’ he was suspicious of it all… there were way too many ‘accidents’ happening around the Honjio family.

 ****VF****

He had finally made the decision to clean the disgusting mess that his apartment had become, mainly because somewhere something stunk like an animal may have died and he needed to figure out what and get rid of it before the smell chased him out of his home.

 Half of the place was already cleaned up when he decided to tackle all the shit accumulated on top of the table. Underneath all that random stuff he found something he had honestly forgotten about, Kunao’s package.

Curiosity won his short internal struggle about whether or not to open it, he finally ripped the brown paper around the large manila folder and took its contents out laying them on the floor for him to examine.

There was a CD marked asSheraton Miyako Hotel security footage and pictures of Kunao with the rich bitch he was supposed to protect but ended up screwing despite Kenta’s constant warnings about shitting where you eat. Between the pictures he found a letter and after opening it, he found the letter was addressed to him.

  ** _Kenta,_**

**_If this letter gets to you it means I am dead… bummer. I went to see a friend of mine in Fukuoka and told her she should mail this if she did not get a call from me at midnight every day. I knew something like this might happen and I am sorry I did not tell you but to be completely honest, I did not want to get you involved. You were right man, I should have listened to you and not gotten involved romantically with Miko-sama._ **

**_I was blinded by love or was it lust? I guess it doesn’t really make a difference now does it? I began to fear she was using me, to what purpose? I did not know, but suddenly she started getting obsessed about getting pregnant, I did not know why. She thought I did not realize it but I saw the tests on the trash several times and found all this crazy supplements that are supposed to help a woman get pregnant._ **

**_I realized she did not love me and was suspicious of a man named Kobe hanging around her. Then a maid caught us in the act and tried to blackmail us. Soon after she was dead and I feared I was next._ **

**_I have a date with her in five days at a café. I will tell her I want it all to end, that I will not say anything to anyone about our affair or the child. Oh yes, I am going to be a father, I found out she is pregnant with my child but I suspect that now that she has what she wanted for whatever crazy purpose she has in mind, she is going to have me killed._ **

**_If things go sideways and shit hits the fan I want you to deliver this things to the police and have them take my child away from her and give the baby to my mother in Osaka. Please take care of my family in my stead and make sure that bitch pays for my death I only have you to count on._ **

**_Kunao_ **

Kenta took the CD and put it in his computer, it was security footage showing Kunao and Miko entering and leaving a room at the hotel on different occasions, judging by the different clothing they wore in the clips. He must have gotten the footage and made copies of it before she got to it… clever Kunao, though not clever enough not to think with his dick instead of his brain or to listen to reason.

One hour later, Kenta was drunk and mourning his best friend with renewed fervor, in his hazy mind he decided that before he handed the presented the insubstantial evidence that would be ripped apart by the rich bitch’s lawyers, he would at least confront her about it, so filled with anger and conviction he left his home to pay a visit to the Honjio household.

 ****VF****

Jun sat behind some bushes directly in front of the Honjio state, he had been ordered by Kirishima to keep an eye on this side of the house while the other men were stationed in other strategic locations. He much preferred ‘Takaba duty’ but since the boy had broken up with his boss and moved out, he had not been able to see his friend often, the situation was much too awkward and even though he wanted to know what happened, he made a conscious decision not to bring it up, it pained him to see his friend suffer.

He was contemplating the statistics of death by boredom when he spotted movement in the branches on one of the trees near the main gate, yet outside of the range of any cameras and almost laughed hard enough to give his position away when he saw that the person he had moments before been thinking about, was currently holding on for dear life to one of the branches as he seemed to have slipped and on the verge of falling off the tree.

Leave it to Akihito to find the most dangerous perch to set himself upon. Takaba, after some major shuffling, managed to pull himself up to the branch and laying on it used the lens of his camera to spy at the inside of the estate.

Jun chucked at his friend’s antics and continued to watch both Takaba and the gate. Thirty minutes later there was a young man trying to get into the estate but the security men pushed him out and locked the gate before him, that is when the man started shouting.

“You bitch! You fucking murderous bitch, you killed him, you killed him and I am going to make you pay for it. He was a good man, an honest man and you killed him! Come out you fucking whore! Come out and face me you murderous bitch! I know you are there, come and tell me to my face why you did it.”

The young man was obviously drunk and the screaming went on for several minutes until finally one of the security men came out and pushed him away from the property. Jun had his phone in hand and was about to call Kirishima to report the incident when he caught sight of Akihito approaching the drunk man, so he called Asami directly instead.

“Asami-sama, there has been an incident at the main gate of the Honjio state, there was a drunk young man shouting about a woman killing someone.”

“Why are you bothering me with this instead of calling Kirishima and reporting to him?”

“I thought about doing that sir, but Takaba is here and is currently approaching the man and I thought the man might be dangerous. What would you like me to do?”

“Go to Akihito, keep him safe and in the mean time find out what is going on. I expect you to report to me directly.”

“Yes sir.”

Jun hung up and keeping himself out of the view of the very lazy security guards and the cameras, approached Akihito before he got to the man.

****VF****

Akihito was on his way to the guy who had been screaming his lungs out at the main gate when for the second time that week he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. Considering where he was, he thought it might not be someone friendly so he freaked out and turned around to deliver a punch to whoever was behind him but his fist was caught effortlessly. The person now standing before him was someone he definitely did not expect to see here, Sumewari Jun.

“Jun! You asshole, what the fuck? You almost gave me a heart attack.”

“Shhh, you are going to get the attention of the guards if you get any louder.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Same thing you are doing from what I could see. By the way your climbing skills have gone south a bit, you need to be hitting the gym or something.”

“Agh I can’t believe you saw that… oh, fuck he kept walking.” Said Akihito as he watched the young man continue to walk away in his drunken haze.

“Mind if I tag along, I want to hear what all that was about.”

“Sure, I don’t see why not.”

They ran to catch up with the young man, Akihito made his voice as non threatening as he could as he talked to the man, he did not want him to freak out and run away or something.

“Hey, sir?”

“What?”

“Could we talk to you for a bit? We would like to know what you are so upset about.”

The man looked at Akihito but his eyes were not really focused on him but looking past him.

“That bitch, she killed him, she made him think she loved him and then killed him. Who? Honjio Miko.” Akihito and Jun looked at each other eyes and then the man started to talk again. “I know… he was a good man, he was my friend and I know she killed him!” He was screaming now, and both Takaba and Jun were glad they had gone a good distance from the estate.

“How about we go somewhere else and you tell us what happened? Maybe we can help you find justice for your friend.”

The man agreed and forty five minutes later, the three of them sat at a ramen bar where the young man who had by now introduced himself as Kenta, was attempting to sober up enough to make a coherent sentence. About ten minutes later, he was finally ready to talk.

Kenta revealed what he found inside the package Kunao had his friend send in case she didn’t hear from him every day. He related the info about the affair which Akihito already knew, but when he spoke about the baby both Akihito and Jun went rigid at the implications.

“Is there a chance that the baby is not his?”

“Kunao was very certain it was his baby, he said so in the letter.”

_‘It makes no sense, if the baby is not Asami’s then how did she get Asami to believe it was his? Maybe that is why the OBGYN was killed she must have had an abortion and her father had the woman killed to cover it up, then Miko must have gotten pregnant with Asami’s child. Still the timing just doesn’t add up so it must be the same baby, which means Asami is not the father.’_

He looked at Jun and could tell his friend had more or less reached the same conclusion.

Kenta kept talking and told them that Kunao had discovered Miko had been talking to a man named Kobe and thinks he is the one who killed his friend. Akihito was almost certain that this Kobe had to be the one who killed Kunao.

Akihito told Kenta he needed to disappear until things are safe. Jun had taken a moment to make a call and Akihito could only imagine he was calling Asami to let him know about what they had just found out. Jun was already sitting down when Kenta started to plead with Akihito.

“Takaba-san, where do you want me to hide from these kinds of people? I have nowhere to go that they will not find me, these people have the money and resources to make me disappear like I never even existed”

“Do not worry about that, by telling us about your friend you have made my employer a huge favor and he has agreed to let you stay at a safe house of his.” Said Jun.

“Do you trust this man?” Kenta asked Jun

“Yes I do.” He answered

“How about you Takaba-san? Do you trust him?”

“With my life.”

Minutes later Jun was leaving the ramen bar with Kenta, they would pick up the man’s personal effects and then Jun would take him to one of Asami’s safe houses where he would personally –by Akihito’s request – make sure that Kenta is safe.

Later that day, Akihito had a meeting with his cop friend at that same ramen bar so he decided just to hang out in the place for the couple hours until the meeting.

When his friend finally arrived he delivered more information to Akihito about Kunao’s death. The detective had been digging around and found out from one of the witnesses that Miko was very calm when her bodyguard was killed by the sniper, almost as if she knew it would happen.

He began to wonder if she was the one to set it up, or if she already knew her father was going to have Kunao killed and just let it happen.

 ****VF****

“It appears that young man has not come back.” Said a maid to another while they dusted around the hallways.

“Oh, I am so glad. All that shouting and screaming at the gate was very scary.” Answered the second maid.

Miko who was just walking by, heard the conversation and decided to ask about it.

“What are you talking about? Who was shouting at the gate and when?”

“A young man Honjio-sama just the yesterday while you were at the auction house. He kept shouting about someone in here, it was a woman I think because of the kind of filthy things he was shouting about her.”

“What was he mad about, did you hear it?”

“Oh, he kept shouting ‘you killed him! Come here and face me you murderous… ahem… I better not repeat that word, but it was things along those lines.”

“It was very frightening ma’am.” said one maid.

“Yes very.” Confirmed the other.

“Well at least he has not come back, you too keep doing your job, I have things to look into.”

“Yes ma’am.” they shouted in unison, bowing to her.

Miko went to the security room and after instructing the man there to wait outside, she looked for the recording of the camera by the main gate on the day she was out at the auction house. The man she saw there made her seethe with anger, it was Kunao’s stupid roommate, she had thought that by getting rid of Kunao she had cut all loose ends on that side, but apparently she needed to get rid of this idiot as well.

She quickly called Kobe and instructed him to kill the young man. One hour later Kobe called her to inform Kunao’s apartment had been emptied and all of Kenta’s clothing was gone, the young man had gone into hiding. Miko decided to take care of Kenta when she doesn’t have other more pressing matters at hand, besides sooner or later, he would have to come out of hiding and she could have him disappear then.

Miko was exiting the security room, she was still angry that Kunao’s nosy friend had escaped her man. The little weasel was probably hiding under some rock in fear. It did not matter though, after her plan is complete, she will have all the time and resources to ferret him out and get rid of him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I apologize for deviating from my update order and jumping to this fic but to be honest it is the only one of my multi chapter fics that I have been motivated to work on at the moment. I will probably take a short break from updating my other ones and finish this one and post some oneshots here and there.
> 
> Before you leave please comment on this chapter, your comments and reviews as well as constructive criticism help me grow as a writer.
> 
> Setsuna


	7. Chapter 7 - The end of it all part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takaba makes more discoveries and steals a corpse, Miko's father dies, Asami has an unplesant phone talk, Aki and Asami confront Miko and someone gets shot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, sorry to have disappeared on you lately. My life has been packed with all kinds of stuff lately and I have not been able to write much. I am still taking a break from my regular multi-chapter fics so I can tackle them with fresh ideas and I am currently working on oneshots I have been wanting to do for a while but have not been able to finish any of them because of how busy I have been. Fear not though, since this fic is already written and just waiting for betaing I should be able to post the last chapter sometime soon so at least you won’t have to wait too long to read the conclusion to this story.
> 
> This chapter is packed full of stuff and lots of things take place in between Thursday afternoon and Friday afternoon.
> 
> Thanks to Ashida and Rekishichizu for betaing and pointing out some loose ends that needed tying.  
> I do not own Finder Series.
> 
> Please review when you are done reading (^_^)/

**My Fault: Chapter 7, The end of it all. Part II**

Late Thursday afternoon, Miko had just arrived from her shopping. She had entered the estate’s main living room, when one of the maids came running and calling for her. The woman informed her that her father had taken a turn for the worse and was dying, so Miko rushed to her father’s room to mock him in his final hours of life.

She walked to her father’s room, the sound of her steps marking an angry cadence in her hurry to see the man die. She entered the room and sat on a comfortable chair near her father’s private mini-bar, taking a wine glass and a wine bottle, she settled to enjoy the momentous occasion.

The rasping wet noises coming from the man before her were disgusting and sickening. The smell in the room was like that of a rotting corpse, which she surmised, was not too far away from the truth. Miko considered once or twice leaving the room and its filthy smell, but set her convictions in stone and stayed, she would be damned if she missed one single moment of this glorious victory.

“Won’t you die already?” she snapped at the suffering man. “I have things to do and would like to leave sometime soon. God, it has already taken so long for the poison to take effect and now you are taking forever to kick the damn bucket.”

“You… did… this… to me?”

“Of course I did, who else would have done it? Who else could hate you this much to want to see you suffer and die a slow, painful death? Though now that I think about it, with how long you are taking to die I should have chosen a different method.”

“Why? I am your father, why would you do this to me?”

“Why? You dare to ask me why? You know, that is the same question I asked myself. Why? You are my father so why did you favor her over me? I am the eldest. It should be obvious that I was the one to inherit the company. Did you really think I would not realize that your little ploy with Asami was so that she could have a chance at taking my place as your heiress? For a moment there, when you first spoke of taking over Sion, I thought you meant it so that each of us could have a company of our own. The one single moment I thought that maybe you cared for both of us equally, the one moment I thought you meant to redeem yourself and you had to open your mouth and ruin it by saying the one who managed to capture Asami would have it all.”

“I heard you father, that same day, I heard you speak to my maid and order her to give me a tea to prevent pregnancy every day so that when the time came, even if I managed to sleep with Asami I could not win. But I did not drink the tea did I father? I started making my own plans, and in the end I won. Me! I outsmarted you two and won, I showed you who was better. Even if this child isn’t Asami’s, I am the one who will have it all. Oh, one more thing before you make your trip to hell, I was there when my sister died. I set up the accident and I watched her burn, trapped in her car, I heard her scream and saw her flesh burn as she cried for my help. Go to hell knowing it was your fault entirely for always putting her before me.”

He began to fight for breath and to shake uncontrollably, his face contorted in pain and wet groaning noises left his mouth as he fought the inevitable. She sat before the bed with a glass of wine in her hand and enjoyed the show all the while recalling the events that led to this moment.

*****************************************************

_It had always been like this, ever since her mother died after giving birth to her little sister, but today was the day things changed for the worse. It was the day she changed._

_“Look father! Happy birt…” she happily ran into her father’s office with her present in hand._

_“Not now Miko. I’m busy,” he said interrupting her._

_“But…”_

_“Not now!” She had tried to protest, to get his attention once more but he just shouted at her._

_“I’ll just put it here. You can look at it later.” She said putting her drawing on the desk of her father’s home office. At twelve she was already exceptionally talented._

_Her father turned back to looking at his work and ignored the girl sitting quietly in a corner, eagerly waiting for him to look at her drawing of him while he sat outside drinking his tea. She sat there for close to three hours and finally decided to get his attention again._

_“Father, the drawing. Will you look at it now?” she asked again coming close to stand next to his chair._

_“Miko! I told you I’m too busy for you right now, get out of here!”_

_He yelled at her again and pushed her out of the way. Her small body practically flew with the force of the push and she landed on the floor with a heavy thud. Calml,y she just got up and cautiously this time tried to tell him about what she had made for him. All she wanted was for him to look at the drawing and smile at her the way he used to. One smile, that is all she needed, one small show of affection._

_“But father, the drawing it’s for your birt…”  She began again and he just stood up, grabbed her arm in a bruising grip and pulled her along._

_He had been shoving her out the door and still she tried to tell him about his present. Before she had a chance to finish her little sister’s running form appeared and collided with her father’s leg to cling to it._

_“Daddy!”  He let go of her like he could not be bothered anymore and hugged Kaoruko._

_“My little princes, have you come to visit me? What can your daddy do for you today?” He was smiling at her sister, smiling happily and tears began to run down her eyes. She felt so lost and so lonely. All she wanted was some love, to be loved by her father like her sister was._

_“Daddy, I need a new horse. I’m tired of the old one already. Can I have a new maid too? The one I have now takes too long to do what I order her and she won’t lick my shoes when I ask her to pretend she is my dog, and a bigger room too daddy, I want more space so you can buy me more clothing and toys. Can I have Miko’s room? Hers is bigger and she doesn’t need the space.”_

_“Sure baby, anything you want.”_

_Miko’s mouth just hung open in disbelief, he was taking her room from her, the room where her mother and she had made such beautiful paintings on the walls. It was so unfair._

_“Yes! I knew it, you are the best daddy ever. Oh, look daddy, look. I got the highest grade again,” Said Kaoruko jumping up and down before shooting a smug look at her._

_“My sweet Kaoruko, this is the best present a father can ask for on his birthday.”_

_“It’s your birthday today? Sorry I forgot daddy, here, a kiss for your birthday.”_

_‘That’s it? A kiss on the cheek and he is all happy? And she didn’t even remember his birthday! He never lets me kiss him, maybe if he did I could make him happy too, but he never lets me.’_

_“What a lovely gift, thank you,” He said, smiling warmly._

_She finally decided to interject in their little talk and running into the office she took the paper and brought out her gift as well. Miko had worked on it for nearly four months and was satisfied with the result._

_“Father, here is my gift. Happy birthday,” She said extending her little arms toward her father._

_She presented her drawing to her father who took it in his hands and examined it. His brows met each other in an annoyed gesture._

_“Why would I want this? It’s just a useless piece of paper with a child’s scribbles on it, Why don’t you focus more on your studies like your sister does? You are the eldest for God’s sake and so far you are nothing but a disappointment. How can you ever take over my company if you are this useless?”_

_He ripped her drawing to pieces and threw them at her._

_“But father, I don’t want to take over the company, I want to be an artist.” She pleaded._

_He slapped her small face for daring to defy him and a small drop of blood flowed from her bottom lip._

_“An artist you say, what a joke, no more drawing or painting. No more of this art shit you hear me, from now on you will be tutored twice as long as you are now and I better see some results. So help me I swear that if you don’t shape up and do at least as well as your sister, I will throw you out into the streets where hopefully you will die.” He was now bending to pick up her sister from where she stood and held her princess style._

_She was sobbing uncontrollably and trying to pick up the broken pieces of her drawing from the floor, along with the broken pieces of her heart. Her father saw her and holding her sister in his arms kicked her to the side to deliver the final blow to any sort of affection she had for him._

_“You… you stupid child! I should have made your mother kill you in the womb when I found out she was pregnant. It would have saved me so many headaches and Kaoruko would have been my heir. I wish it was you who was dead instead of your mother.”_

_Later that day, sitting on the table having lunch and looking at them, she thought about herself. It’s not like she was stupid, it’s just that she liked other things. She was just as intelligent as her sister and her grades were the top of her class but her sister was a show-off and had their father wrapped around her finger, just because she looked more like their mother than she did._

_This was a turning point in Miko’s life, it was the moment she started to hate them all and from then on, things just got worse and her father was more obvious in his disdain toward her. He ignored her often and pretended she didn’t exist unless he actually had to talk to her._

_Yes, she envied Kaoruko, she wanted to have some love and attention from their only parent and every time she saw them together, she wondered why it was not her who was loved. Her heart and mind filled with hatred, envy, and resentment until one day she realized it’s not like she was stupid, she was actually quite smart, one day she will have them both on their knees and show them her pain, one day she will show them all who is better._

_**********_

And show them she did…

Miko watched her father take his last breath and for the first time in many years felt free, she was finally happy. She was finally better than her father, now all she needed was to prove she was undoubtedly better than her sister. To do that, she needed to finish the job, she needed to take everything from Asami Ryuichi. She laughed, her happiness clear in the sound, before she composed herself to play her role of sad daughter.

****VF****

Akihito was coming back from work. He walked into his apartment and walked straight to the bathroom taking his clothes off on the way, he really needed a shower. Thirty minutes later, he stepped out of the bathroom feeling refreshed and noticed his phone was ringing, by the time he reached it the person calling had hung up. He picked it up and saw he had seven missed calls from his police contact.

“Hello?” he said when the phone went off again.

“I need to see you. Can you meet me at the ramen shop?”

“Give me one hour.”

One hour later, he sat before his friend and waited for the shoe to drop. Whatever had the man with such a sour face had to be bad.

“Well? Are you going to tell me why I’m here?”

“Did you see this?” He said pushing a newspaper article about the murder of a young artist toward Takaba.

“The murdered artist? Yeah I did, it was strange that it’s being called a robbery when nothing was taken.”

“I thought so too, so I did a little investigating on my own.”

“And…?”

“Rumor has it he was into forgeries.”

“Really? Usually forgers are also counterfeiters since they have to be able to recreate the original artist’s signature, so it might have to do something with it. Maybe he got on the bad side of a client?”

“I don’t know may be. Here is the report on the investigation.”

“Do you think this is related to our case?”

“I’m not sure but twenty years as a detective are telling me not to ignore it.”

“Your instincts are usually right. Let me look at it.”

He read over the report and his eyes narrowed the further he went into it.

“What do you think? You have good instincts too. There is something about this that is just nagging me to look at it closer. No matter how I try to ignore it, it just won’t leave my head and my instinct is telling me to look into it, I think it might be connected to our case.”

 “Hm, I feel the same way you do; we have to look into this. Maybe it’s just the clue we need. Can you pull his phone records and see if we can get anything substantial from it? Maybe he called one of the other victims and that is how he is connected to all this.”

“Sure, I will get my friend to do it off the record and call you with the info when I get it, we should not be meeting in public too much.

“Sounds good.”

They sat in silence for close to five minutes, Akihito could tell his friend wanted to tell him something. He was getting impatient with the waiting when the man finally spoke.

“Takaba-kun Honjio Yamato is dead.”

“WHAT!” Akihito shouted his question standing from his chair in disbelief and several heads in the ramen shop turned his way.

“What?” he repeated sitting down once more. “You have to be kidding, we were certain, this makes no sense. We thought he was the one pulling the strings but you say he is dead. How? When?”

“He died yesterday morning, sepsis from infection. They performed an autopsy right away today…” he left the sentence unfinished and looked right into Akihito’s eyes.

“You think there was foul play?”

“Yes.”

“Looking at everything that is going on, so do I, the timing is just too good to be a coincidence.”

“My sentiments exactly, what do you think we should do?”

“Well to be honest, I’m not above anything at this point.”

“I fear the days when that sentence leaves your mouth… it scares the hell out of me, you crazy daredevil. Let’s hear it then…”

“We need to find out what is happening. Soon. I have the feeling something bigger is going to happen. When is the funeral?”

“Hm, I thought so too. The funeral is tonight at eight pm at Zōshigaya Cemetery, should be done by nine thirty at the latest, do you have a plan?”

“Yes, I never thought I would be saying this but… let’s steal us a corpse.”

“You have been watching way too much Leverage…”

****VF****

It was ten thirty that same night, they had waited for the mourners and respect payers to leave and waited until they were sure no one would be coming by. The duo had paid the caretaker to look the other way while they dug the corpse out and promised to bring the deceased back the following night. Despite being paid quite the wad of money – there went Akihito’s savings again and some money he borrowed from his friends – the caretaker refused to help dig so it was over an hour later that they loaded the coffin on the back of a windowless van and drove to the place where the coroner who was helping them waited to begin his work.

When they arrived at the coroner’s designated meeting point, they saw three people waiting instead of one and panicked a bit. With fear running through their bodies they parked in front of the three people in the underground parking lot and stepped out of the van.

“Shinoe-san, we didn’t expect more people to be waiting.”

“It’s okay, they can be trusted. These are my children and assistants, they are on board and will be helping me examine the body so I can meet the time frame you promised the cemetery’s caretaker. I assure you they will say nothing to anyone. We have all taken time off to work on this only to get it done as soon as possible. Your vehicles are waiting over there, you can just leave my van over here and we will take care of the rest. Takaba-kun, I will call you with the results as soon as I have them.”

“Thank you.” They both said and bowed to the coroner and his assistants/kids.

Akihito walked toward his moped and his cop friend walked toward his car, they nodded to each other as a way of goodbye and went their separate ways.

****VF****

The next day, Akihito received a call from the coroner to meet him at a bar in Shinjuku, of all places Akihito thought a bar was not the greatest place to meet, given the fact that it was two in the afternoon and may seem suspicious. Given the circumstances and the rising feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach, he decided he did not care and went to see the coroner.

Sitting down in a booth in a dark and secluded corner, Akihito went straight to business.

“Did you find something?”

“Yes, it’s as you feared, this death was an assassination.”

The coroner related his findings, then he let Takaba know his boys had already taken the body back to the cemetery for burial.

“And the report?” Asked Akihito.

“I sent it to that person you told me about, just in case something happens to any of us. Is he to be trusted?”

“Yes, Takato is one of my best friends and he knows where to take the report if it comes to that.”

“Good, I will take my leave then, it’s time for some much deserved rest. I’ve been awake for way too many hours.”

“Thank you Shinoe –san.”

“Hn, don’t mention it. Really don’t, to anyone.”

The coroner walked away and after waiting several minutes, Akihito left the bar.

****VF****

Around the same time, Asami had received a call from Miko reminding him of their appointment, as if he needed to be reminded of such dreaded encounter. She had threatened him about severing their contract if Asami dared to stand her up and leave her hanging. Asami was already picturing emptying his gun in her body by the time she was halfway through her threat.

She informed Asami that they needed to settle the matter of their, in her mind, impending and very logical marriage – as if Asami would ever let that happen – as well as discussing important things about the baby.  The bitch had even dared to hang up on him after delivering her ridiculous speech.

Asami was oozing ire through every pore of his body by this point, how dare that woman threaten him? How dare she hang up on him? He had only tolerated her because he needed her father’s company to disguise his merchandise until it got to Japan. He was so angry at all the crap she had been spewing at him, and that anger coupled with all the shit that had gone wrong since he met that cursed woman, made the normally composed man lose his cool.

Asami was overtaken by rage and took it out on the thing that was closest to him, his phone. He threw the device against the wall where it shattered with the force of the collision. He hated that woman and had had enough of her. Asami decided he didn’t care anymore, he would kill that woman himself once he revealed to her that he already knew who the father of the child was when she got there.

One hour before the time for their meeting, Miko got stuck in traffic and was running late, she took the opportunity to make sure her man was in position and informed the sniper to wait for her signal.

****VF****

Akihito had just come out from the bar where he met the coroner, his mind was raising with questions, pairing them with answers and putting the pieces of the puzzle together. He was walking down the sidewalk with no particular direction in mind as he tried to fit the pieces together.

A synthetic form of snake and spider venom, capable of inducing necrosis it was a dosed so low it would have been missed if you were not specifically looking for something amiss. There were other substances in the deep tissue and the intestine, stomach and several organs looked like they had been eaten away. Had they not been doubtful of the cause of death and run every kind of test imaginable instead of the standard autopsy and had they gone with the result from the first autopsy: Sepsis due to a severe abdominal infection that compromised the internal organs, they would have missed the murder and not counted it into their theories. But something just didn’t feel right, something made no sense. Both Akihito and his police informant had agreed they needed to get a second opinion, they were right to do so. This discovery would put things into a different perspective.

His phone went off and he pulled it out of his pocked to answer the call.

“Takaba speaking.”

“Takaba-kun, it’s me. I got the info from the phone records, the phone number for the man who was pushed down the stairs appears as one of the contacts in the phone and there are several calls to him from Ume-san’s phone. There are also several calls to and from Honjio Miko, we were right, the murders are all connected.”

“I really don’t like this.”

“I know how you feel, I will try to see what else I can find and let you know as soon as I find anything.” The man hung up and Akihito went back to walking aimlessly.

He stopped in his tracks and went over the information he had found, along with what he had just learned. If the father was not the one pulling the strings, then things made more sense. Questions he had rolling around in his mind had suddenly a plausible theory for an answer.

He knew that the maid had learned that the eldest daughter had an affair with her personal bodyguard. He also knew the electrocution was actually intentional, to shut her up, it would have worked too, if the maid had not been a gossip and told her best friend. He learned from the bodyguard’s roommate that the man was afraid for his life and that Miko was obsessed with getting pregnant.

Akihito was sure both the bodyguard and the maid had been killed by the same person, the hired gun, Kobe Shouichi. Then if the father was not the culprit and sent the man to kill the bodyguard for sleeping with his daughter, then it only leaves Miko as the culprit, she killed him because she got what she wanted and once she confirmed it, and then she killed the OBGYN who knew about it.

Everyone knew she hated her sister, so that did not need much explanation, and now the final pieces of the puzzle had come into play.

The phone records linked the man who was, undoubtedly, pushed down the stairs to the artist and both of them to Miko. It had been her all along, the culprit had always been that woman and not her father, the man probably got in her way and that is why she killed him. She must have hated him too, for doing it in such a gruesome way. All this, and still a question remained, what was the artist’s part in her plan? Then the idea hit him, the artist was not just an artist, he was also a forger and a counterfeiter. She had been living in Asami’s condo for a long time now, with access to his office.

_‘If she managed to get in, she could have easily stolen papers with his signature from there, she could have made a will in Asami’s name and have the artist replicate Asami’s signature leaving her with everything. Then, oh God! Asami! She is going to kill him. I need to tell him before that woman gets to him.’_

He tried calling Asami but only got to the voicemail so he quickly called the only person who knew Asami’s whereabouts were at all times. The man answered on the second ring.

“Takaba-kun, what can I do for you?”

“Kirishima, you said last night Asami was meeting that woman this afternoon to talk about arrangements for the child. Where is he now? Where are they meeting?”

Kirishima heard the alarm in the boy’s voice and by instinct was already signaling Suoh to come over in case something needed to be taken care of.

“He is at his personal suite at the Park Hyatt, they are meeting at three thirty. Why?”

Akihito looked at his watch then at the street signs.

_‘Three ten and he was not too far, just over ten blocks. He had twenty minutes, maybe if he ran as fast as he could he could make it in time to warn Asami. God please let him be alive when I get there.’_

His ears picked up on Kirishima’s voice still calling his name and he answered the question the secretary had asked.

“She is going to kill him, Kirishima, she is going to kill Asami.” He said already running in the hotel’s direction.

“Are you certain?”

“Yes.”

“Suoh is calling but he won’t pick up the phone. We are on our way with some men just in case the hired gun has been hiding around and is ready to come out.”

“You won’t make it in time, if she is going to do it now he might be dead by the time you get here. I am closer, almost there. I will make sure Asami knows the truth. I will protect him.”

“Don’t hang up then, keep the call going then, I want to hear everything that happens to act accordingly.”

Right about this point Kirishima was deeply regretting leaving Asami’s side to go get some documents from the office instead of having someone bring them to him. Truth was, he needed a break from the tension around his boss since Takaba had left and right now his decision was kicking him on the ass. He should have known better than to leave Asami’s side when Suoh was out chasing a possible lead on the hired gun working for Honjio, Kirishima felt like an amateur when faced by his oversight.

Akihito did not answer, he just held the phone in his hand and continued running, Asami’s life depended on it.

When he reached the lobby, it was already three thirty seven, he hoped he was not too late and ran to the elevator uncaring of the people staring at him for running inside a hotel. The ride up the elevator was the most tortuously slow moment of his life, it seemed as if the elevator moved slower than imaginable.

He ran out the doors as soon as they opened and ran down the hallway. Akihito knocked insistently on the door, he could hear talking from inside, it could only mean Asami was still alive. He had made it on time.

“We don’t need anything.” Shouted a female voice from behind the door.

“Asami, are you there? It’s me I need to speak to you.” He put his phone in his pocket still connected to Kirishima.

Seconds later the door opened to reveal Asami and Miko.

_‘He is alive, he is alive, I made it in time. Thank you God, I made it.’_

Asami stepped to the side and let him in, he would rather talk to Akihito than to the woman so he would just shoo her out and schedule a meeting for later.

“Akihito, what a surprise.”

“Ah, yes, sorry for coming unannounced. Asami, can I talk to you privately?”

Miko was perplexed, who the hell was this boy to be speaking to Asami in such a familiar manner? Why was Asami suddenly letting a person come unannounced into his private suit? She could not allow this boy to stay, it would ruin everything.

“Excuse me boy, but Asami-san and I have important things to discuss. I’m sure you can come back another time.”

“No,” It was Asami who spoke and what he said infuriated her to no end. “Akihito stays, you and I can re-schedule this talk for tomorrow.”

“Are you asking me to leave?”

“I’m telling you to leave.”

“I’m the mother of your child! I will not be treated this way.” Akihito let a snort out and looked at Asami to see what the man’s reaction was.

Asami’s eyes were cold as he spoke to her, his voice went to that dangerous low tone that signaled he was quickly losing his patience.

“You may be the mother of my child but Akihito is the most important person in my life. He takes precedence over you, that child and everyone else in this world.”

“How dare you! To treat me like this in front of this… this… lowlife nobody!”

“Leave! Now!” Asami was pissed and losing his cool quickly.

“I’m not leaving, whatever he has to say I’m sure is not important and nothing that can’t be said in front of me. Speak quickly boy and then leave.”

Akihito was about to say something to the crazy bitch but Asami was faster than him. He took a threatening step toward the woman and spoke with a chilling tone of voice.

“Don’t you ever dare tell Akihito what to do. You are not good enough to direct your words toward him.”

She wanted to hurt this boy who had gotten in her way, this boy who made her feel less. This boy, who showed her yet another person who would put someone else before her. She could tell from the way Asami stood protectively, slightly in front of the boy that Asami cared for the blonde, maybe Asami had even slept with him. She latched on to that and spat her venom at the boy.

“Not good enough to speak to him! Apparently I’m good enough to fuck though, was the boy not giving you what you needed? I can tell you have fucked him too. Maybe it’s because I could give you something he can never give you that you slept with me.”

She had begun walking around the suite’s living room and unconsciously, Asami had been turning to keep his body in between her and Akihito. She stopped by the windows slightly to the left side with her back toward the glass while Asami stood facing the window and Akihito slightly to his right.

Akihito had had it with this woman, he wanted her gone and Asami safe so he could tell Asami everything and let Asami’s men capture her. Sadly, his fuse was notoriously short and before he knew it he was throwing truths her way.

“You have given him nothing! You may think you have everyone fooled but I know that child is not Asami’s. I figured it out, all the things you have done, all the people you have killed to keep your dirty little secret. You are a sick person who has no regard even for her own father and sister. You, are not fit to be by Asami’s side, you disgusting murderous bitch!”

“Fufufu, it doesn’t matter what you think you nosy little boy, nothing matters anymore because soon Asami will be dead and I, his legitimate wife, will be left with everything.” In one smooth movement she pulled a gun from her hand purse letting it fall to her feet and pointed the gun at them before Asami was able to pull his out.

Asami narrowed his eyes angrily at her, once he made sure Akihito was safe he would make this woman pay for everything that has happened these past few months.

“Wife? Are you delusional? You are not and will never be my wife.” He said coldly.

“Oh, but I am Asami-san, you say you know the truth boy. How about you enlighten Asami here?”

It only took Akihito a second to figure it out, it was not a will, it was marriage papers and family registry.

“The artist, you had him forge Asami’s signature…” With just that sentence even Asami understood what was going on.

“Fufufu, I see you did investigate. Too bad you will both be dead soon.”

“What I don’t understand in all this is how did you manage to pass someone else’s child as Asami’s, he must have bribed your OBGYN to get a prenatal paternity test done?”

Now that, was something Asami himself was interested in hearing as he had ordered Kirishima to find out the veracity of Miko’s claims of his paternity as soon as the woman had left the room after delivering the horrible news, and had been certain the child was his because of the report Kirishima had handed him. He had not known he was not the father until Akihito had come across the information and Jun delivered it to him.

“Ah, that. It was quite simple actually, he did pay my OBGYN to have the test done, but she was a close friend of mine and in on the plan from the beginning. She was supporting me and aided me in providing Asami with a positive match as the father of the child. She got all remorseful on me though, so naturally I had to get rid of her before she did something stupid and ruined it all.”

She waved the gun between them again before setting it on Asami again.

“Miko, put the gun down and I might end your life without suffering,” Said Asami.

At that moment, she lifted the arm not holding the gun above her head, almost like she was signaling someone. _‘The killer, he is a sniper!’_ Akihito’s mind was working at lightning speed and his body reacted immediately, tackling Asami and pushing him out of the way.

The bullet went straight through Akihito’s side, blood oozed from the wound as he lay protectively on top of Asami. They lay on the floor protected from the sniper by a couch next to them.

Asami quickly switched their positions so Akihito was behind him as he crouched protectively before the bleeding boy. He made a motion to take one of his guns out of its holster when he felt a bullet hit him in the arm and the gun fell from his hand. Miko stood before Asami with the gun pointed at his chest.

“Don’t even think about it.”

“You won’t get away with this!” Shouted Takaba from behind Asami, who just waited for the opportunity to strike.

“Won’t I? I think I will get away with it and not even be a suspect thanks to you. You see, I was here talking to my husband when we were interrupted by a disgruntled ex-lover who was angry at being replaced by a woman. We tried to calm you down, but you went crazy and shot at Asami-san killing him. You would have killed me too if by some lucky chance I had not gotten a hold of a gun and protected myself and my unborn child. Sadly, you died in the exchange so they won’t be able to question you, but really who is going to doubt a pregnant woman who just lost her beloved husband?”

She shot at Asami’s thigh and Akihito tried to get off from behind Asami to check the injury, but Asami’s arm held him in place. She shot Asami again on the same thigh enjoying the painful groan that escaped him.

“Why won’t you let him out from behind you? Does the boy really mean that much to you? It doesn’t really matter anyways, I am going to kill you both. Now for Asami Ryuichi’s grand finale, how about a shot to the head?” She said pointing the gun at Asami’s forehead.

Akihito could not let this happen, Asami was quickly losing blood and was weak. He would not let that woman kill Asami even if he had to die to protect him. Weak as Asami was, he could no longer keep Akihito behind him and in a matter of seconds after seeing the gun pointed at Asami’s forehead, Akihito had taken Asami’s gun from the floor and stood before Asami as he yelled “NO!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, a cliffie… how evil… Thank Ashida for that by the way (^_^). So, what do you think? Will Aki survive this fic? Will Asami go insane if Aki dies? What will happen with Miko and the baby? All answer to your (I’m assuming) many questions will be answered in part three. You are welcomed to speculate though. 
> 
> Leave your comments before you go, I hope to post soon.
> 
> Setsuna


	8. The end of it all part III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone dies and things return to some semblance of normalcy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is folks, the last chapter of this fic. I hope I tried all loose ends and that you have enjoyed this story. I must say though that I am happy to be done with it as it went on about 2 chapters longer than intended and took up most of my time and attention away from other projects.
> 
> Thank you all for sticking with me through this whole story. Thanks for all the favorites, follows, comments, PMs, subscriptions, and bookmarks. 
> 
> Special thanks to Ashida and Rekishichizu for betaing, helping with plot issues, pointing out loose ends, and basically putting up with me and my constant rambling. 
> 
> I hope this fic is all you hoped it would be.
> 
> Last but not least, I do not own Finder Series.
> 
> Enjoy

**My Fault Chapter 8 – The end of it all, part III**

“NO!” Kirishima heard Akihito scream at the other end of the line followed by the sound of the phone falling to the floor, then it was like time stood still on his end.

Bang, bang, bang. Three consecutive shots were heard through the phone’s speaker, seconds after Takaba shouted and Kirishima feared for the worst.  There was a deafening silence and his mind told him Takaba Akihito was dead. They had a medical team on standby on the floor below Asami’s, his boss would need it and if the boy had been shot he just hoped they were not too late.

Suoh’s team had taken out the sniper on the building across from the hotel and Kirishima had just arrived at Asami’s floor with his own team. As they approached the door, he feared for what he would find there.

****VF****

Who would have thought all her plans would come crumbling down because of a nosy brat. She was reminded of that American cartoon about a group of teens and a dog solving mysteries. A defeated laugh escaped her as her life ran out of her body, along with the rivers of blood, the barrel of the gun still pointed at her chest and a small string of smoke rose from it into the air as the small hands gripped the gun still shaking with fear and adrenaline. The widened hazel eyes still looked at her without seeing, shock fogging the boy’s vision, shock at what he had done to save Asami’s life.

“In the end…” Gasp, wheeze, wheeze “I guess…” pant “You were… better… than” Heave “all of us… boy.” Those were her last words and soon after she had spoken, her body fell to the floor, rigid and Akihito fell to his knees, his whole body trembling.

Asami gathered the small frame in his arms and used his thumb to wipe away the tears at the corner of those hazel eyes. He never wanted something like this to happen, never wanted to see that look on Akihito’s face or for the boy to carry this burden – the burden of taking a life.

“I am sorry Akihito, I am so sorry. All this, it was all my fault.”

He kissed the small rosy lips softly as if to reassure that it all had ended and held the body tight against his.

“I am so sorry.”

****VF****

Kirishima and his team entered the suite to find Asami holding a trembling Akihito in his arms, and gently taking the gun from the boy’s hands. The medical team came in minutes later and worked quickly on Asami. Akihito’s wound was superficial and the boy insisted that they try to save the baby before they tended to his wounds. The team performed an emergency C-section and managed to save the child. Akihito asked Asami to give the baby to Kunao’s family and Asami promised that it would be done.

A week later, Kirishima had settled all the inheritance issues, Miko was now dead and as she so cleverly had forged the necessary documents pertaining to the inheritance of property in the event of Asami’s untimely demise it had made it easy to turn it around and Asami ended up owning everything connected to Yamato Enterprises which now formed part of Sion Corporation.

The official media report on the death of Honjio Miko was death at childbirth, Kirishima had spun the wildest of tales as and paid the necessary people to make it true to the masses. For some mysterious reason – maybe because most people are as dull as sheep – people ate it up like candy and the sympathy caused by such heart wrenching occurrences somehow drove Asami’s business through the roof and Akihito could still not believe it. So far as anyone was concerned Miko had gone into early labor due to the stress of losing both her sister and father in such a short amount of time and died during childbirth, the child died as well and there was nothing to be done to save them.

That same week Akihito received a letter from Kenta, he had moved away to Osaka because he felt he needed to help out with Kunao’s child since he could not save Kunao even though he had warned his friend to stay away from Miko. After the whole ordeal was done Akihito had informed Hirakawa about Miko’s death and the woman just put all the blame on fate and karma not really knowing what really happened.

 As much as Asami had gained at the end of the ordeal, he still felt he had lost something far more important. For one month after the incident, Akihito did not want to talk to Asami or anyone remotely related to him. Kirishima understood the boy needed some time to put himself together and let him be, even Jun seemed to be giving the boy some space even though he did get to see Akihito twice during that whole month.

Akihito had been talking to Feilong quite a bit during this time and the Chinese did as much as he could to help the boy from going off the deep end. They talked almost every night for several hours and Feilong had promised to visit as soon as he was able. It was during one of these talks that Akihito informed Feilong that he had made a final decision regarding Asami who still called insistently even though he never answered the calls. He never told Feilong what exactly he was going to tell Asami but regardless Feilong said he would support his decision and be there for him.

 At the other side of the phone Feilong was crossing his fingers and silently praying things went his way, maybe now he would have a chance at happiness, he thought perhaps with Akihito he would attain it but didn’t get his hopes up in case things didn’t happen the way he wished. Despite what Akihito’s choice might be he surmised the friendship they had built over the last months was strong enough to survive in spite of the boy choosing one way or the other.

 The phone kept ringing every day at 8pm and it was at the end of the month when Akihito finally answered Asami’s phone call and told him to come over so they could talk personally.

Asami arrived to the apartment and knocked softly on the door, Akihito just opened it without saying a word and he let himself in.

“How are you doing?”

“Better I guess, I’ve been seeing a psychiatrist. It makes me feel like a loony but I recognize I went through some serious shit so I keep going.”

“You look better.”

“Thanks, you still look like you lost some weight. Are you sleeping okay?”

“No, you?”

“Nah, better now than three weeks ago though.”

“Hm.”

An awkward silence set between them and Asami decided to be the one to break it.

 “Akihito, what can I possibly do for you to forgive me? Tell me and I swear I will do it.”

 

“I am tired of uncertainty…”

                                                                    ****VF****         

 

It had been six months since the incident with Honjio Miko, Akihito stood in his bedroom getting ready to go out. He had a date today, he had a relationship… an honest to God steady, exclusive relationship with dates, movie nights and the whole shindig. For the first time in a long time he was happy. This relationship was good for him, he felt secure in this relationship and knew exactly where he stood, and there was no fear or uncertainty.

 

 He would never again say those three words that so long ago caused him so much pain, but the man he was with understood and made no demands from him. It was their four month anniversary today, and maybe they were going to a fancy place, regardless of where they went, he was still going to wear the clothes he liked and be himself, people who really cared for him liked his real self, so he felt no need to try to appear to be someone else. This man he was going out with was one of those people, and it made Akihito feel free to be himself.

 

In their four months of dating, this man had been good to him, he had not forced Akihito to go at a faster pace than he was comfortable with and for that the boy was thankful. He wanted to do things right in this relationship, to date properly and not jump the gun too quickly, and caught up in each other.

 

Four months and he still lived in his crummy apartment, four months and he still slept by himself… four months and they still had not slept together. His body had not known the touch of another since the day he left Asami’s penthouse. He still craved to be made love to, but he would not let his urges dominate him and force him to give the step with this man before he felt mentally and emotionally ready for it and its implications.

 

Despite the fact that the man wanted Akihito to move in with him, the boy declined the offer, if he was not ready for them to have sex, he was definitely not ready for them to live together. Disappointment was evident on the man’s face every time Akihito answered his invitation to move in with a negative, still the man waited for him to decide when to move in.

 

He made the invitation but there was no pressure, Akihito knew he would come home from work or from hanging out and still find all his stuff in his apartment and no key with a small note pasted to his door. Life was good to Akihito, and he had begun feeling like a butterfly finally coming out of the chrysalis after a long hard struggle, to spread his wings and enjoy the beauty life had to offer.

 

He had feelings for this man, they had developed slowly and were now stronger than the feelings he had felt during his fucked up something with Asami, the man knew his thoughts, but there would be no vocal admission on Akihito’s part. In these months of proper relationship building and getting to know each other, they had begun to develop a kind of trust without secrets that had not been present in Akihito’s fucked up something with the yakuza. They talked about their days, about their lives, shared childhood stories, kissed soft, caringly and even passionately at points.

 

He knew for a fact that the man had not had sex with someone almost as long as Akihito and though it might be killing him to have his heart’s desire so close yet not being able to enjoy the pleasures of the flesh with the boy to his heart’s content, the man still waited patiently for the go ahead from Akihito, this had earned many points in the blonde’s book.

 

On certain occasions, Akihito would allow him to stay over after a marathon movie night, the man suffered through Akihito’s awful taste in movies without complaint, and then slept on the living room couch because Takaba would not let him into the bed. He never complained about this either, not even once.

 

This man would whisper sweet nothings into his ear when Akihito had had a predominantly difficult day and treated him with respect. Though he did not particularly approve of Akihito’s career choice –mainly for safety’s sake – he was still supportive and encouraging. In this relationship Akihito had found what he longed for and never had. The man he was in a relationship with respected Akihito’s decision and request for no sexual advances of any kind, kissing being as far as they had gone.

 

Akihito had kept the man on first base for four straight months. Takaba had made it clear from the very beginning that even though there would be no sex until he said so, fidelity was a must on both sides for as long as their relationship remained. Failure to comply with this clause would mean the immediate end of their relationship, both would part ways and live their lives as if they had never met and never see or speak to the other ever again. The man had complied and accepted this very specific demand for Akihito’s sake, because he knew he would have no chance at getting close to the boy if he did not agree.

 

Akihito left the apartment and walked down his hallway, around the corner and down the stairs into the parking lot. The car was already there waiting for him, and he walked toward the vehicle opened the front passenger door and climbed onto the seat. It was nice to go out with someone and ride in the front for a change with his date driving them around, instead of feeling like a pampered princess in the back seat of a limo. 

 

They kissed softly and briefly, before the car pulled away and into the street, occasionally when traffic lights permitted it and streets where not too busy, they would hold hands and the much larger thumb would draw small soothing circles on the back of his hand. He liked this man; it was a welcome change from what he had known.

 

“Where are we going?” He finally asked, breaking the comfortable silence in the car.

 

“I reserved a private place for us to celebrate. We won’t be bothered there.”

 

“I kind of expected that, we are still a secret after all.”

 

“Yes, we are, I am sorry about that.”

 

“It’s okay, it’s for both of our sake anyways so it’s not a big deal.”

 

“Akihito, I know I have brought this up many times and that you are still not ready but the remodeling and furnishing of my new place is almost finished and I would like you to reconsider moving in, there is plenty of space and you can have your own living area.”

 

“Thank you for making it a request and not a demand but I am not ready to move in with you yet… but maybe tonight, if you want to… after our dinner, we can spend the night together at a nice hotel.” He felt ready to make that step now, to move their relationship to the physical because he was certain it was not based on it.

 

Akihito blushed furiously at his forwardness and turned to look out the window. They were at a red light so the man took the opportunity to hold his hand and with sweet soft words said “thank you.”

 

“I think you have earned it Ryuichi.”

 

Their relationship was still a secret sort of affair, because they could not make it public due to both their line of work but at least now it was a proper relationship. One where trust, fidelity and loyalty were important things, one where Akihito knew where he stood and sex was not the main focus but an expression of their affection and that was all that mattered. It had been a bumpy ride to get here, with more downs than ups, now, finally things had settled down and he could be happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what do you think? * runs and hides under the bed*  
> Good ending? Bad ending? Did I miss something? 
> 
> I had hoped that last chapter when Asami said "You may be the mother of my child but Akihito is the most important person in my life. He takes precedence over you, that child and everyone else in this world.” and thev later on he said “Don’t you ever dare tell Akihito what to do. You are not good enough to direct your words toward him.” it would be a clear hint that he was finally trying to do right by Aki and let him know in front of Miko what he thinks about him foreshadowing the ending of this chapter but I got a couple PMs saying he was OOC in chapter 7 because he said those things to Aki, in my opinion is plausible that he would try to change for Aki so I did not see a reason to change it though i did wondered if my foreshadowing needed to be more obvious or something. 
> 
> Anyways, please leave your opinion before you go. 
> 
> Also, I am almost done with a really long oneshot called Unworthy… should be fun and give you an insight into AsamixAki relationship from an outsider’s point of view. Then I will be working on other stuff I have put on hold before going back to my main fics so bear with me a bit and be patient.
> 
> Love ya all and thanks for the support,
> 
> Setsuna.

**Author's Note:**

> So, what do you think? Leave a review before you go and tell me your opinion.
> 
> Also, no more chapter updates to any of my fics until Thursday, my daughter's first birthday is on Tuesday and my family and I will be at my husband's parents from Monday to Wednesday night which means I won't be able to work on anything.
> 
> Have a great week,
> 
> Setsuna


End file.
